A mother and daughter, who owned a Montrose funeral home, are heading to federal prison for selling body parts without the consent of loved ones. Megan Hess, 46, was sentenced to the max — 20 years — for her role in the nearly decade-long scheme that impacted at least 500 victims. Her mother, Shirley Koch, 69, was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Both pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of mail fraud. The FBI raided Sunset Mesa funeral home in 2018 as part of “Operation Morbid Market,” following a Reuters investigation. They said Koch and Hess sold hundreds of body parts across the world to places as far away as Saudia Arabia. Victims in the case, later learned, the ashes in their urns didn’t belong to their loved ones.
