The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "mortuary" ...
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National Prearranged Services, a House of Cards
"This series concerned a multimillion-dollar insurance fraud perpetrated by National Prearranged services, a large national insurance provider, against dozens of its business customers, many of whom were driven to financial hardship and even bankruptcy as a result of NPS' actions.
Tags: fraud; prearranged funeral services; funeral; mortuary; insurance;
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Unholy Alliance
A New Times investigation reveals "how the nation's largest Roman Catholic archdiocese, at the instigation of Cardinal Roger Mahony, entered into a secret deal with one of the nation's largest funeral service company, Stewart Enterprises, Inc." The funeral chain and the Catholic church agreed to build for-profit mortuaries on the ground of church cemeteries. As a result, unsuspecting Catholics have been steered by parish priests -- pressured by the archdiocese -- to use the Stewart mortuaries at prices double than those of identical services provided by independent mortuaries. "It is an arrangement that appears tied to the cardinal's ambitious push to build a spanking new $193 million cathedral in Los Angeles," the Times reports.
Tags: religion; California Cemetery and Funeral Bureau; consumer affairs; Montebello; donations
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Funeral Board Outgunned
The Arizona Republic reports on problems with the funeral industry in Phoenix including wrongful cremation, the suicide of a mortuary worker, the theft of gold teeth and sexual abuses. The Arizona Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers investigates less than 1 percent of complaints each year -- and board members also admit that there are probably "three or four times" as many who do not complain. In other states funeral boards have been disbanded because they were hiding more than they were investigating.
Tags: funeral homes; cemeteries; funeral board; emasculation; sexual abuse; wrongful cremation
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Funeral Industry Investigation
WCPO-TV's investigation of the funeral industry to help local consumers avoid being victimized at a time when they are grieving and vulnerable. The I-Team exposed which mortuaries charge the most and which charge fair prices. The investigation also revealed how some mortuaries routinely rip off customers, and their hidden camera showed funeral directors using high pressure sales techniques.
Tags: TAPE; FOI; consumer protection; FTC
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No title (id: 13053)
Fort Worth's famous undertaker, the Rev. Gregory Spencer, has buried a lot of friends--and made a lot of enemies. Now he claims someone wants him six feet under. The Dallas Observer investigates the shootings and why people are angry at Spencer. (June 8 - 14, 1995)
Tags: McVea Tales from the crypt Mortuary Funerals Narrative 8 pgs.
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No title (id: 8400)
KCAL-TV (Hollywood, Calif.) reports on the cemetery and mortuary businesses in the state of California; finds them unregulated and permeated with corruption and mismanagement, Nov. 19 - 22, 1991.
Tags: TAPE
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Cremation
ABC News Nightline reveals massive fraud and abuse in the cremation industry: finds commingled ashes, mutilated bodies and organs removed and sold without family permission, Oct. 28, 1987.