Tristan Essex says his memories of his nana, Jessie Stockdale, are now “tainted” after funeral director Robert Bush kept her body for five months after her family were told her funeral had taken place.
Bush, who ran Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in Hull, is awaiting sentencing for preventing the burials of 30 people and giving grieving families the wrong ashes.
According to Tristan, with the benefit of hindsight, there had been warning signs.
“There was an awful smell in the funeral directors,” he recalled. “My grandma was changed into different coffins every time we viewed her, and we obviously picked a specific coffin.
“She was put into larger coffins which were wider, longer, different colours, different trims. She was in at least three or four different coffins.
“We complained because the frill on the coffin was splattered with blood.
“There was black, thick mould around the inside of the coffin as well.”
Victims and their families have been waiting for justice since the investigation began two years ago.
Bush, 48, specialised in low-cost funerals and claimed on his company’s social media to offer “dignified personal care”.
Behind the scenes, officers found a very different picture.
Humberside Police described its inquiry as “complex, protracted and highly sensitive”, triggered by a report of “concern for care of the deceased” in March 2024.
Within days, 35 bodies and half a tonne of human ashes were recovered from the firm’s premises on Hessle Road in Hull.
The body of Tristan’s grandmother, Jessie, was among those discovered.
Tristan, 26, said his family were “knocked off our feet” when they were told Jessie was a victim.
“Thirty-five bodies were found inside Legacy and one of them had an ankle bracelet with my nana’s name on,” he said.