More families come forward, upset over conditions at Hampton Cove Funeral Home
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - Disturbing allegations against the Hampton Cove Funeral Home are growing.
Since our story aired earlier this week, families across the Tennessee Valley have reached out letting us know of similar situations.
Friday, Kate Smith spoke to one man who was so disturbed by the conditions inside the mausoleum he had his late brother disinterred to another funeral home.
“That was an experience I never thought I would have to do again,” said Jon Fleming. “It was terrible.”
The death of Jon Fleming’s older brother in 2006 was hard enough on the family.
“It’s a terrible thing to go through, but it’s even worse to have to bury somebody twice.”
Fleming said the Hampton Cove Funeral Home has been deteriorating for years with cracks in the crypts, water leakage, and a moldy musty smell plaguing the mausoleum.
“The mausoleum is not safe. It is not safe from the mold in the inside where the viewing area is and the mold and possible diseases growing inside the crypts," said Fleming.
Friday, a spokesperson for the funeral home acknowledge the disrepair and said they found the source. There was a leak on the mausoleum’s roof. A crew hopes to have it fixed sometime next week.
But the Fleming family said it is a little too late.
Thirteen years after Thom’s death they decided to remove Thom’s body and burry it at another location. Jon said the team worked for an hour to open the crypt and what they discovered horrified the family.
“The inside of the crypt was full of mold and moisture, 13 years later the wooden casket was crumbling.”
Thom’s crypt at Hampton Cove is not the only one purchased by the family. Jon’s parents spent almost 10-thousand dollars to be next to their son when they eventually pass.
“They will not be going there. They have plots now in Maple Hill where my brother is buried. They have paid for three funerals twice.”
Fleming said families deserve to have their loved ones in a safe and nice place to rest in peace. He wants the state’s health department to investigate what is going on inside and act immediately.
“We are so happy he is out of the mausoleum. It should have never been built. That mausoleum will never stand the test of time. The construction is so poor a good storm or a good tornado, that place is gone," said Fleming.
The spokesperson said work to repair the roof will begin this weekend.
If you have experienced problems with the Hampton Cove Funeral Home, you are encouraged to fill out a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office.
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