PITTSBURGH — Families across Western Pennsylvania are turning to 11 Investigates with questions about their loved ones’ remains after new allegations against funeral director Patrick Vereb.
Two former Vereb Funeral Home employees allege their former boss mishandled human remains at his Hazelwood funeral home. They both tell 11 Investigates they sat down for hours of interviews with a state investigator.
In April, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office filed fraud charges against Vereb related to his pet cremation business.
Charlynn Bailey said Vereb came to her Penn Hills home nine times over the last 25 years to take care of her pets when they passed away, creating memorial frames containing the ashes of each pet.
“He was so empathetic, so kind,” Charlynn Bailey said. “And so, you trust him, you know, because he seems like he really cares.”
She treasured those frames for a decade, until the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office notified her that, like thousands of others, the pets she paid Vereb to cremate were instead dumped in a landfill.
In 2015, Bailey asked if Vereb would take her brother-in-law, Earl’s ashes to create a memorial frame like he did for her dogs. Her brother-in-law had been cremated by another funeral home prior to approaching Vereb.
When Bailey learned that the ashes in the frames weren’t her beloved pets, she decided to take a closer look at Earl’s frame.
“Since I opened my brother-in-law’s frame and found what I found, I can say I’m stunned-stunned,” Bailey said. “Sure enough, my brother-in-law is in a Ziplock bag with no crematory tag.”
Bailey said the ashes she handed over to Vereb had a metal tag attached.
11 Investigates learned a state investigator was assigned to look into Vereb for allegations of mishandling human remains and leaving bodies unrefrigerated for days. So far, there have been no charges in that half of the case.
“I don’t know anybody who would be ok with treating their family that way,” Bailey said. “How on earth could I have trusted this person, like this? I mean, you really feel a little foolish, duped.
Bailey was able to get in touch with someone from the Bureau of Enforcement and Investigation with her concerns the remains were tampered with, but has not heard back.
“I was pretty sure that they were probably human remains,” Bailey said. “My question is, are they all there? Somebody else or somebody else’s pet have ashes that are Earl.”
A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of State said the agency investigates any claims from families who suspect their human loved ones may have been mishandled. You can file a complaint here.
Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
©2025 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/XCUXZC2XYZHCRGNNGKFEX6U3LQ.png)
