Coffins missing in Hilo, families tell investigators

By Christie Wilson
Advertiser Neighbor Islands Editor

HILO, Hawai'i — Two families told state investigators that when they disinterred relatives for reburial at another cemetery, they found the bodies in bags, lying on bare dirt, even though they had purchased caskets and concrete vaults from Memorial Mortuary of Hilo.

Mortuary owner Robert R. Diego, 59, is under investigation by the state attorney general for second-degree theft, unauthorized sale of pre-need funeral plans and embalming without a license. On Wednesday, state officials used a search warrant to seize records at the Maka'ala Street business.

Diego yesterday denied the allegations.

"I was born and raised here. I never did anything like this," he said.

In a court affidavit filed in support of the search warrant, special investigator Robert Ganzagan stated that Gilbert Rosa purchased two burial plots at Mauna Kea Memorial Park for his parents, Rita and Manuel Rosa Jr., and that his mother paid for a pre-need funeral plan from Memorial Mortuary.

When his father died Dec. 28, 1982, Diego sold the Rosas a bronze casket for $1,700 and a concrete vault to protect the casket once it was placed in the ground, the affidavit said. The family saw Manuel Rosa in the casket during the wake and immediately before the actual burial, when they were told they had to leave.

In April 1995, Rita Rosa arranged for her husband to be moved to Homelani Memorial Park. According to the affidavit, when workers opened the grave, they found his body lying on the dirt without a casket or the vault.

Ganzagan's affidavit said the same thing happened to Jacob Pa, whose mother, Lily Pa, had purchased a pre-need plan from Memorial Mortuary. She died in 1982 and was buried at Mauna Kea Memorial Park.

Jacob Pa said that before she was interred, he saw his mother in a casket with metal handles, with a concrete vault lid lying near the grave. Again, mourners were asked to leave before burial, the affidavit said.

In May 1994, Pa was present when his mother was exhumed for reburial at Homelani. He told Ganzagan that when he looked into the open grave, he saw a black, plastic body bag and no casket or vault. He opened the bag and identified his mother's remains.

The investigation into Memorial Mortuary began last July after state authorities were contacted by Lucille Mossman, a former mortuary employee and Diego's ex-girlfriend. The two lived together for five months but became estranged. In July, the same month Mossman tipped authorities, each obtained a three-year restraining order against the other.

Along with information about the missing caskets, Mossman told investigators that Diego had been selling pre-need funeral plans without authorization and had been conducting embalmments without a license.

Investigators confirmed with a state health official that Diego is only an apprentice embalmer and did not possess a license to perform embalming. The official provided investigators with a list of 16 families who had used Memorial Mortuary or West Hawai'i Mortuary to check whether those burials were properly conducted.

West Hawai'i Mortuary is owned by Diego's daughters, Ranalynn Naipo and Daphne Shinoda, and shares the same Hilo address as Memorial Mortuary along with its operation in Kona.

To avoid digging up graves, the state sought help from the Army's Central Identification Laboratory.

With the permission of family members, Army anthropologist Sabrina Buck used probes and metal detectors to determine the presence of caskets.

An examination of the grave of a man who died May 1, 2000, and was buried at Honoka'a Catholic Cemetery, failed to indicate a casket even though a relative told investigators the family had purchased one with metal handles, the affidavit said.

Attorney Brenda Carreira, appearing at the Hilo mortuary yesterday with Diego, said he is a victim of slander and malicious prosecution. They said all of the claims were false and Mossman was out to smear the business. Mossman has been unavailable for comment.

Diego said he did not conduct any illegal embalming. During a period when his firm had no one to prepare remains, he said, bodies were sent to other mortuaries.

He said the pre-need funeral plans were sold by an independent company, Forethought Life Insurance, whose business address is the same as the mortuary.

Ganzagan's affidavit stated that the mortuary had not purchased caskets from Batesville Casket Co., the major casket provider in Hawai'i, since 1999. The documents also noted that West Hawai'i Mortuary has been ordering caskets from the company.

Diego said that the Hilo mortuary ordered caskets through his daughters' business.

Advertiser staff writer Hugh Clark contributed to this report.