The FBI Raises Sunset Mesa - Megan Hess's Donor Services

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Megan Hess became the owner of Sunset Mesa Funeral Home in 2011. She also owned a business called donor services, which she ran from inside her funeral home. There's no federal law that prohibits so-called body brokering as long as the body is to be used for research or education. This is what Megan Hess was doing, and it's hardly regulated at all.

Debbie Schum waited a long time to receive the cremated ashes of her friend, LoraLee Johnson. When she did, she felt relieved to finally take them home with her. But then, she got a call from the FBI.

We first aired this episode in 2020. Earlier this month, Megan Hess and Shirley Koch were sentenced for their crimes. We've included updates about the case in this version of the episode.

To learn more, check out Elena Saavedra Buckley’s article, “‘None of this happened the way you think it did.’”

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