(C) Iowa Capital Dispatch
This story was originally published by Iowa Capital Dispatch and is unaltered.
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Board: Funeral home director sent photos of corpses to children • Iowa Capital Dispatch [1]
['Clark Kauffman', 'More From Author', '- March']
Date: 2024-03-26
A former funeral director is facing potential sanctions for allegedly sending photos of dead bodies to children and adults.
The Iowa Board of Mortuary Science has charged former funeral director Jennifer Spiekermeier of Iowa City with unethical conduct and with knowingly misrepresenting information to a prospective buyer of funeral merchandise or services.
According to the board, Spiekermeier “sent photos of decedents to both adults and minors,” and also had a minor accompany her and observe her while she embalmed a body.
The board has not publicly disclosed when the alleged incidents took place, or the context in which they are alleged to have occurred. The available board documents provide no information on the basis for the misrepresentation charge.
The board documents also don’t state where Spiekermeier was working at the time of the incidents, although state workforce records indicate she was employed by the Texas-based chain SCI Iowa Funeral Services in 2020, and that her employment with the company ended that year. An employee of one of SCI’s businesses, the Cunnick-Collins Mortuary in Davenport, stated Tuesday that Spiekermeier worked there at one time.
In a written statement that SCI attributed to another of its locations, Weerts Funeral Home of Davenport, the company said, “We are taking the incident very seriously. However, I am not at liberty to discuss the details of any associate’s employment, but I can tell you that she is not currently working at any of our locations.”
Board records indicate the investigation into Spiekermeier was initiated in 2022. The board now has limited options in sanctioning Spiekermeier, as her license to practice in Iowa expired 10 months ago, in May 2023.
Spiekermeier said Tuesday she could not comment on the matter other than to say that she worked at Cunnick-Collins Mortuary as well as other Iowa funeral homes while employed by SCI, and that at this point the charges against her are based on unproven allegations. “It was my understanding from the board that none of this was going to be made public,” she added.
A board hearing on the charges is scheduled for June 6.
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