Only Channel 11 is pressing Pennsylvania’s Attorney General about the state investigation into a local funeral director already charged with mishandling pets’ remains.
Patrick Vereb was charged by the Attorney General’s Office in April in a pet cremation fraud case. Investigators say he pocketed money families paid for cremation services and dumped the animals in a landfill instead.
A former employee who tipped police off about those alleged crimes says she also reported what she believed was the mishandling of human remains. She wants to know what happened with that part of the case.
For months, 11 Investigates has been working to answer that question. When our team learned Attorney General Dave Sunday would be in Pittsburgh, we decided to talk to him in person to get our questions answered.
Our team asked: “What would you say to people who say the AG’s office isn’t taking the concerns about the human aspect of this seriously enough?”
In response, Attorney General Dave Sunday said, “Any time there is potential criminal activity, just like we did with the pet aspect of this, we will absolutely investigate it and if warranted, we’ll prosecute it ... It’s obviously unbelievably serious, something we clearly would take extremely seriously.”
But 11 Investigates learned allegations that human bodies were mishandled by Patrick Vereb were reported to his office by at least one former employee and Laura Smaglo.
Smaglo tells 11 Investigates she called the AG’s Office in April with concerns about her 99-year-old mother’s remains. Records show she wasn’t cremated until five days after she was brought to Vereb’s funeral home which didn’t have refrigeration and wasn’t outsourcing it.
“He said we’re not investigating that right now, but you could write us a letter - which I did, but I never heard back anything,” Smaglo added.
That was five months ago.
Attorney General Sunday says if people believe their loved ones were mishandled, they need to contact the Department of State.
Their Bureau of Enforcement and Investigation looks into state licensees, including funeral directors. There is a formal complaint form you can use to report what you believe is wrongdoing.
Charlynn Bailey is now being interviewed by BEI investigators about her brother-in-law’s ashes, but initially, she didn’t know who to report her concerns to.
“Who knew that they existed?” Bailey said. “I’m a retired nurse practitioner with prescriptive privileges. I had four licenses that I had to keep up with. I had no idea that these are the people that look into licensees.”
BEI investigators can’t file charges, so they have to hand their findings over to law enforcement to determine next steps, which includes the AG’s Office.
“I know that the Department of State certainly is looking into this and that is always a starting point for a case like this,” AG Sunday added. “What I’m hearing is the case is progressing in the normal course like it should.”
In the meantime, Vereb voluntarily inactivated his license, so he’s not able to operate.
Vereb’s trial for the pet case begins on Tuesday.
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