Pet parents turn to Facebook for grief support after funeral home director accused of mistreating bodies
More fallout tonight following a KDKA Investigation into local funeral director Patrick Vereb and his pet cremation business, Eternity Pet Memorial.
KDKA Investigates is working to get answers for grieving pet owners and more clarification on who could be impacted by his alleged fraud.
KDKA Consumer Investigator Meghan Schiller learned that, as pet owners are forced to grieve their beloved pets all over again, many are planning to protest at Vereb's upcoming hearing. Some are in talks with interested attorneys, considering if there's a path for a civil lawsuit. All the while, Vereb is making moves business-wise.
A private Facebook group is now the emotional outlet for thousands of grieving pet parents, believed to have fallen victim to Vereb's alleged deceptive and fraudulent scheme.
"I will be at every hearing, and so will my boyfriend," pet parent Rosemary Sabol said. "I think it is going to be healing for people. I had planned to go with pictures of my Ringo."
Sabol says she's never known a bond like the one she had with Ringo. Now, she's left with a Ziploc bag, no ID number and ashes she doesn't even think look like ashes.
"And now to find out all of this, it's really hard. This is the first pet in my life I've ever had cremated. So, what do you think that's going to do going forward? Do you think I'll do it again? No," said Sabol.
KDKA Investigates learned on Thursday that Vereb waived his May 9 preliminary hearing. That means court proceedings are delayed until June 18. It's upsetting news for pet parents who hoped to face Vereb next week.
"Not well at all," pet parent Denise Brzezinski said. "You see more horror stories online. Now, I just saw that he has postponed his hearing until later in the month."
Brzezinski has two pillows with the faces of Mac and Bailey, her two beloved Shih Tzus. They allegedly were cremated by Vereb's Eternity Pet Memorial.
"It's heartbreaking that you love these animals, and they were tossed in a landfill," said Brzezinski. "It's just heartbreaking, just heartbreaking. I cried all day when I saw this."
A recent real estate posting shows Vereb is in the process of selling his Natrona Heights funeral home location. It was recently renovated and had a grand opening last summer.
KDKA Investigates talked to the head of the real estate team handling the sale of that location. He said Vereb failed to tell him about the criminal charges against him until after signing the offer letter. He still expects it'll close in the next six to eight weeks, but adds the buyer does not plan to operate the space as a funeral home.
Also, since KDKA's investigation aired, Vereb has deleted the social media pages for both locations.
KDKA Investigates also spotted a job posting circulating on the popular job site Indeed. The job listing is for a funeral director at Vereb Funeral Home. It does not mention anything about pet cremations or the Eternity Pet Memorial offshoot business.
On Thursday, in a Facebook post, River Valley Veterinary Hospital said it plans to file a civil lawsuit against Vereb.
