Mother-son duo takes over Silverthorne funeral home summitdaily.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from summitdaily.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The Lake County coroner and his wife were arrested in Leadville on Thursday night after a body was discovered in their old funeral home. It was believed to have been there for a “number of months.”
Members of the Silverthorne Police Department and Lake County Sheriff’s Office took Coroner Shannon Lee Kent and his wife, Staci, into custody at 8:35 p.m. Thursday on suspicion of tampering with a deceased human body, according to a released from SPD.
Shannon Kent is also being investigated for violating bond conditions.
Before the arrests, police found a human body in a coffin at the funeral home previously owned by the Kents at 561 Blue River Parkway in Silverthorne on Tuesday, according to a release from the SPD.
SPD said it is currently under new ownership and management by Colorado Funeral Homes.
Credit: Summit County Sheriff s Office
Shannon and Staci Kent
The former Lake County deputy coroner, according to the affidavit, had planned to buy the business earlier from the Kents but reported that he saw red flags and backed out of the deal.
Officers contacted the prior deputy coroner, who said he had seen an infant in a casket in a two-door freezer at the Leadville Funeral Home, owned by the Kents. He had planned to buy that property as well as the Silverthorne property, the affidavit says. He recalled seeing the infant about four weeks ago , the affidavit says, and investigators believe it is the same unidentified infant seen when a search warrant was executed at the property by LCSO in October 2020.