Niewoehner Funeral Home

Courtesy Donald Mink) Amy B Wang General assignment reporter covering national and breaking news October 24, 2017 Donald Mink wasn’t prepared for the call that came on Feb. 23: His mother had died in North Dakota, just days after entering hospice at the age of 77. Mink, at home in Indiana, was suddenly faced with a dilemma: How could he lay his mother to rest from several states away? Donald Mink and his mother, Mary Louise Mink. (Courtesy Donald Mink) He decided to have his mother’s body cremated, then to send her ashes to Seymour, Ind., so he could bury them in her home town, between his grandparents’ graves. The state of North Dakota would cover the cremation costs, since his mother had been a ward of the state. Mink would pay the $65 shipping fee. So on Feb. 28, the cremated remains of Mary Louise Mink were shipped by the North Valley Crematory in Grand Forks, N.D., via U.S. Postal Service Priority Mail Express. Donald Mink said he was told to expect the package to be delivered to his home within two days. His mother’ ashes never arrived. What followed, Mink said, were months of anguish, legal disputes with both the crematory and the Postal Service, and an alleged falling-out with his own attorney. Now, eight months after his mother’s death, he still doesn’t know where her ashes are, and may have no recourse. Mink, 43, told The Washington Post the situation began to escalate in mid-March, when he called the crematory to ask why he hadn’t received the package. An employee answered, Mink recalled, and “his exact words were, ‘The post office is supposed to get a hold of you.’ I was like, why? ‘Well, they’re going to call you and explain everything to you, and they’re going to make it right.’ “He tells me that the post office told [him] not to give me a tracking number. I called the post office. The lady on the other end said there’s no way that they’d ever d...

D. (Valley News Live): A local funeral home owner is warning the community about a cremation company he says is taking advantage of families after the death of a loved one. Although it’s not a scam, funeral directors from both North Dakota and Minnesota say that Heritage Cremation Provider is being deceptive with its customers. So what’s behind these claims? Heritage Cremation Provider Webpage “You had a loved one that died, and all of a sudden they were kicked when they were down," said Dan Dahl, a funeral home owner from East Grand Forks. Dahl says he’s experienced a family where a father died and they hired Heritage Cremation Provider about five months ago. "They said this Heritage Cremation Society, tell me about it because we got issues. I asked what the issues were and they said dad is still at the hospital three days later. When they called Heritage, their local chapter were extremely busy and full,” explains Dahl. The company is not located in Minnesota or North Dakota, and is not registered as a business with either state. They are also not licensed by the ND State Board of Funeral Services and Minnesota Department of Health. "They don't meet with families, they do everything online," Dahl said. Heritage Cremation is essentially a web based marketing company that collects payment upfront then subcontracts the actual service to local funeral homes. The company headquarters is in Colorado, but when we called they told us they have offices all over. Dahl says many funeral homes decline to work for them for an array of reasons. "We may not be compensated because they are an office in Colorado and they do what...