A Texas man who had been charged with the responsibility of spreading the ashes of deceased individuals off the coast of Galveston has been arrested after the ashes were found elsewhere.
Cody Kenney, a former charter fishing boat captain, was charged with three counts of abuse of a corpse, KHOU-TV in Houston reported on Thursday. He is free on $15,000 bond.
Court documents said that charter fishing services are often asked to spread the ashes of the dead, according to KRIV-TV in Houston.
The documents said between 95 and 98 percent of the time, members of the family of the dead person or friends are aboard.
Kenney was given the job of spreading ashes of the dead in cases where the was no one to accompany them, according to court documents.
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This was usually done on a chartered fishing trip if the members of the charter group had no objections.
Kenney, 29, was a charter boat captain for two vessels until he resigned in September, according to the Houston Chronicle.
On Oct. 13, 2022, the owner of the company for which Kenney worked was told by a representative of a local funeral home that the cremated remains of a man had been found in the garage of a former member of Kenney’s boat crew, according to KHOU.
A former boat captain for a Galveston fishing charter was arrested after he allegedly failed to scatter the ashes of at least three people at sea. https://t.co/9yzX6x9Ogo
— KSAT 12 (@ksatnews) February 10, 2023
Kenney had been given those remains for dispersal on Jan. 26, 2022, KHOU reported.
The owner of the fishing charter service then found more cremated remains in October.
The remains of a woman were found on one boat when the owner went to clean it. The remains had been entrusted to Kenney June 28, 2022.
The owner then checked his other boats and found one more set of cremated remains. The owner said these had also been given to Kenney in either late 2021 or early 2022.
A warrant for Kenney’s arrest was issued on Feb. 1. He surrendered to police on Wednesday, KHOU reported.
The owner of the company hired to spread the ashes said he contacted the families after it was learned their ashes had not been spread and offered to do so, but they rejected his offer.
No reason was given for why Kenney did not spread the ashes, according to the Houston Chronicle.
According to KPRC-TV, the owners of the vessels Kenney captained said he was not an actual employee but was used on a contractual basis.
