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DC woman searching for husband’s ashes after cremation business closes

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Updated  February 27, 2025 7:07pm EST
Washington, D.C.
FOX 5 DC
DC woman's husband's ashes go missing after cremation business closes

DC woman's husband's ashes go missing after cremation business closes

A Southeast D.C. woman says her husband's ashes are missing after the cremation business she used suddenly closed. FOX 5's Tisha Lewis has the story.

The Brief

    • A Southeast D.C. woman says her husband's ashes are missing after the cremation business she used suddenly closed.
    • Laura Dorsey paid Heaven Bound Cremation Services for a cremation package but has not heard from them since.
    • The company’s website is still active, but its phones are disconnected, and it has not responded to inquiries.
    • The D.C. Mayor’s office says multiple families have been affected, and officials are investigating.

WASHINGTON - A grieving widow paid for her husband’s cremation. Then, the funeral home shut down, and his ashes disappeared.

Searching for her husband's lost ashes

The backstory:

Laura Dorsey says her husband, Ronald Dorsey, passed away on Nov. 28 at Georgetown University Hospital. He was 62 years old and suffered a cardiac arrest. Due to financial constraints and the lack of a life insurance policy, she used a city-issued voucher along with some of her own money to pay for his cremation at Heaven Bound Cremation Services of D.C.

But months later, she says she has not received her husband’s remains and has been unable to reach the company.

"They had closed and locked the doors … they suspended their license, but they had seized all work that had been done from Heaven Bound and my husband was not within that group, so she has no idea where my husband is," Dorsey said. "She gave me these links for me to go online to file a complaint … This is unimaginable."

Laura Dorsey is searching for husband’s ashes after Heaven Bound Cremation Services of D.C. closed.

Despite the closure, Heaven Bound’s website remains active and is still advertising cremation services. Calls to the company, messages left, and inquiries submitted through its contact form have gone unanswered.

The business reportedly operated locations in both D.C. and Maryland, the latter of which has been cited for multiple issues. Dorsey says she has no information on where her husband’s remains might be.

FOX 5 reached out to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Office, and a spokesperson confirmed that multiple families have been impacted by the business’s closure. The mayor’s office says officials are looking into the situation.

We are still waiting for more information from the D.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

The Source: FOX 5 DC reporting and Mayor Muriel Bowser's Office

Washington, D.C.