Angry relatives sue over donated bodies

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Two families filed suit Tuesday accusing BioCare and two affiliated companies of mishandling bodies donated for scientific research and returning cremated ashes of unknown origin to the families.

In the lawsuit Farrah Fasold and Philip Fajardo claim to have suffered extreme distress after finding out their loved ones remains had been mistreated.

That discovery came after body parts traced to BioCare turned up in late March at a Kansas facility licensed to incinerate medical waste. BioCare owner Paul Montaño has since been charged with three counts of fraud for allegedly shipping body parts to Kansas for disposal instead of cremating them as called for in his contracts with the families.

When the research had been completed, the cremated remains were to be returned to the families.

In the lawsuit Fasold said her father, Harold Dillard, made an agreement with BioCare to use his organs for scientific purposes.

Fasold eventually received what she believed were her father’s ashes, but on April 1, she was notified that Dillard’s arm had been found at the waste facility in Kansas City, KS. The lawsuit accuses BioCare of mixing Dillard's remains with those of other people.

Fajardo said he was notified by the company that his wife’s organs had been harvested for scientific research and her hip had been sent to a research facility in Germany.

Fajardo then received what he believed were her ashes until he found out her intact body was one of the 20 bodies police seized from BioCare’s offices last week.

It is still not known whose ashes both families received.

New Mexico Mortuary Service, Inc. and Director’s Choice, LLC are also part of the lawsuit. Mortuary Services issued death certificates for BioCare bodies saying they were cremated, and Director’s Choice signed them.

The lawsuit claims those companies did not do their jobs of confirming the right bodies were cremated.

The attorney handling the case said he expects more victims’ families to file suit.