NORTH FORK TIMES
SURFACE CREEK NEWS
BOUNTIFUL HARVEST Mountain Harvest Festival celebrates all things local, B5-7
AN INSPIRATION
SPORTS
Volunteer cancer warriors raise funds for local beneficiaries, C2
DELTA COUNTY
RECORD-SETTING RUN Ethan Bartlett sets new mark for Paonia High School, B9
SEPTEMBER 26, 2018 VOL. 135, NO. 39
75¢
INDEPENDENT
www.deltacountyindependent.com
Sunset Mesa families share their grief BY DON BENJAMIN Staff Writer
Last Saturday afternoon over 125 people assembled at the pow wow arbor in Delta’s Confluence Park. They
gathered just southeast of the point where the Uncompahgre and Gunnison Rivers flow together — a juncture that gives the park its name. The arbor is a collection of sturdy
Photo by Don Benjamin
Terri Reid lost her husband William in 2016. She learned from the FBI that the urn she was given does not contain her husband’s ashes. Instead, the bureau found paperwork indicating that his whole body was sold and shipped to a yet to be discovered location where it may have been harvested for research.
gnarled tree trunks standing on end in a rough circle. Above the trunks, loose weathered branches interlace to form a rustic outdoor meeting area. No roof, just a web of wood open to the bright September sun. In the past the arbor has hosted music concerts and Ute tribal ceremonies. Last Saturday, like the nearby juncture of two rivers, the arbor channeled two converging streams — one a growing stream of horrific facts and the other a tumbling stream of raw emotions. Many of the participants were meeting one another for the first time. They had “met” on social media, linked through a closed Facebook group, connected by a common thread of communal tragedy. For nearly two hours, people young and old walked to a microphone and shared memories of deceased friends, husbands, wives, sons, daughters, and grandparents. They spoke as survivors who had already mourned a death and as continuing sufferers whose grief has been extended by what they allege are betrayals of their trust. They spoke of loved ones left in the care of Sunset Mesa — a funeral home, now closed, that once operated in Montrose. They spoke of loved ones allegedly abused after death and
of their anguish about the uncertain disposition of bodies and cremated ashes. It was hot — 88 degrees — as Debbie Schum of Hotchkiss, one of the organizers of the assemblage, took the microphone. She spoke in memory of her close friend, a woman first lost to death then caught up in a growing postmortem controversy. “People say don’t obsess over this,” Schum said as she addressed the group halfway through the informal meeting, “Obsession is a little tiny thing that you focus on. This isn’t a tiny thing. It’s an overwhelming and consuming thing. It’s horrifying. No one had our permission to do this. None of us would have agreed to these grotesque things.” She paused then, unable to find words. Finally she continued with help from other organizers who joined her in reading aloud the names of deceased persons whose families could not be present. During the afternoon meeting, more than two dozen friends and family members spoke of their loved ones. Another three dozen names were read from cards. And, according to event organizers, those 60 or so names represent just the tip of a very large iceberg. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is now gathering evidence involving Sunset Mesa Directors and Donor
Services and the businesses’ owner/operator, Megan Hess. Without citing sources, the organizers of Saturday’s meeting allege that the bureau has recovered and is examining the remains of 850 decedents. According to organizers, 50 of the decedents are being studied at the U.S. Marine base in Quantico, Va., while another 800 are being housed at Colorado Mesa University. In February 2018 state regulators shut down Sunset Mesa and began a hearing on nine formal complaints lodged against the Montrose-based funeral operation. The complaints stretched as far back as 2014. Eventually regulators leveled 13 accusations against Sunset and Hess and forbade the business and its owner from ever reapplying to operate a funeral home or crematorium in the state. Some of the most serious accusations, which Hess denied, were that Sunset Mesa harvested and sold human body parts without the knowledge or permission of surviving families and that cremains (cremated ashes) returned to families were either non-human substances, such as cement, or possibly remains of someone other than the deceased. That same month, the FBI began asking families who believed they had been SUNSET MESA TO A3
Joint candidate forum scheduled Delta County Colorado Republican and Democratic County Committees will jointly present the 2018 Delta County election candidate forum at Bill Heddles Recreation Center Tuesday, Oct. 2, featuring candidates from both parties. The public is encouraged to attend this free event. In a totally bipartisan effort, this forum will bring together Delta County and state Legislature candidates from both parties to answer questions from the moderator regarding issues of interest to all citizens of Delta County, the Western Slope, and the state of Colorado. Doors will open at 6 p.m. with the forum beginning promptly at 6:30. The moderator will be Eric Goold of KVNF Radio, Paonia. To give all candidates equal time, no questions will be allowed from the floor. Candidates will be available for questions from attending voters after the forum. Democratic committee chairman David Jacobson stated, “I hope this political forum can be an example to the rest of the country of what can be accomplished when Democrats and Republicans put aside their bias and simply see each other as people.” Republican committee chairman Roger Bentley said, “Many hours of arduous men-
INDEX
Accent ........................... A4 Activities ....................... A9 Back Page ................. D10 Business .......................A10 Church ............................C7 Classifieds .................. D1-2 Editorial ......................... A2 Legals ......................... D3-8 North Fork Times ........B1-7 Obituaries .................. A7-8 School Zone ............... A5-6 Service Directory ........ D9 Sports ........................B8-10 Surface Creek News ...C1-6 TV Listings ..................C4-5
tal linguistics brought the Delta County Democrat and Republican Central Committees to conclusions regarding this voter information forum. Over 50 questions from the public were compiled for the contested offices that will appear on the Nov. 6 ballot. The intent of our work and this forum is to give interested voters an opportunity to learn about these candidates. We are excited about the format that we have assimilated, and we invite everyone to attend.” Candidates expected to attend the Oct. 2 forum include: House District 54 — Thea Chase, unaffiliated; Matt Soper, R. House District 61 — Mike Mason, R; Julie McCluskie, D. Senate District 5 — Olen Lund, R; Kerry Donovan, D. Delta County commissioner, District 1 — Dick Gilmore, D; Mike Lane, R. Delta County clerk and recorder — Stacy Lowe, D; Teri Stephenson, R. County offices of treasurer, assessor, coroner and sheriff will also be filled in the November election, but each of those races is uncontested. The hope is to wrap up questions and answers in about an hour and a half, leaving time for the candidates to discuss issues informally with interested voters.
Photo by Don Benjamin
Debbie Schum (center) uses a portable microphone to introduce mourners who came forward to address a gathering of families who allege they were victimized by Sunset Mesa Funeral Directors and Donor Services, a Montrose funeral home which was closed by state regulators earlier this year. Schum and others organized the meeting using Facebook contacts.
Two die of apparent gunshot wounds; no suspects sought BY PAT SUNDERLAND Managing Editor
Joshua George, 26, and Jonathan Alonzo, 27, both of Delta, have been identified as the two men found dead in the roadway near L and 3100 roads outside of Hotchkiss early Sunday morning. Delta County coroner Lance Boren provided identification, but the cause of death is pending
the results of autopsies. The two men were found lying in the road at 3 a.m. Sunday morning by a woman headed to work. Delta County Sheriff Fred McKee says the two individuals, described as friends, died of apparent gunshot wounds. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation is assisting sheriff ’s investigators with the inci-
dent, which was initially reported on social media as an officer-involved shooting. No law enforcement personnel were involved in the incident, and the sheriff ’s office is not actively searching for any suspects, Sheriff McKee reports. A vehicle belonging to one of the deceased men was towed from the scene.
Party headquarters open
Food for Thought awarded $25,000
The Delta County Republican Party has established a campaign headquarters at 428 Main Street in Delta. September hours are 2 to 6 p.m. TuesdayFriday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. In October, hours will be expanded to 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. MondayFriday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. Those hours will be maintained through Election Day on Nov. 6. The Delta County Democrats have located their headquarters in Paonia, in the Harvester Building at 211 Grand Avenue. Volunteers will staff the office daily through Election Day. Local Democrats gather every Tuesday from 4 to 8 p.m. for a potluck dinner, and every Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m. for call parties.
Willyn Webb, executive director of Vision Charter Academy, announced Tuesday morning that the Food For Thought program is the recipient of a $25,000 State Farm Neighborhood Assist grant. She expressed appreciation to all who voted for the program over a 10-day period. “Every vote made a difference; we were successful in a very tight competition.” “Thank you to State Farm Neighborhood Assist and our local agents for such an amazing opportunity and their support,” she added. Food for Thought will be sustainable, with other fundraising and food drive efforts, for two more years as a result of the $25,000. Webb said 100 percent of the money will be spent on food for kids. Vision Charter Academy Food for Thought currently serves the Delta and Cedaredge schools with an average of 300 bags of weekend food delivered to recipients each week. “We would like to also serve the other county schools and this grant makes that possible!” Webb said.