Cops: Pa Funeral Home Gave Pet Owners Fake Ashes

Law & Crime reports:

A Pennsylvania funeral home director allegedly bilked some 6,500 people out of more than $650,000 by promising to cremate their cats and dogs, but instead dumping the animal carcasses in a landfill and giving the pet owners fake ashes.

Patrick Vereb, 70, is charged with several felony counts, including theft by deception, receiving stolen property and deceptive business practices, Attorney General Dave Sunday announced.

Vereb, the owner of Vereb Funeral Home and Eternity Pet Memorial in the Pittsburgh area, told pet owners he would cremate their dog or cat and return the ashes in an urn for a fee. But instead of actually cremating the animals, he would dump the carcasses in a landfill and give the ashes of an unknown animal to the customers, Sunday said.

Pittsburgh’s CBS affiliate reports:

When Tiffany Mantzouridis decided to become a funeral director, she knew she wanted to help guide people through their grief. In February 2024, after she graduated from the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science, she landed an internship at Vereb Funeral Home, run by licensed funeral director Patrick Vereb.

But she says things seemed wrong right away. “He would get pets in, and they wouldn’t go in the freezers,” said Mantzouridis.

Pictures Mantzouridis gave to KDKA Investigates from what she claims is inside the Vereb Funeral Home show black trash bags piled on top of chest freezers. “They would be sitting on top of the freezers in the garage, and we would pick them up, and there would be flies on them, and there would be blood everywhere and puddles,” said Mantzouridis.

There’s more at both links above.

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