Mesa embalmer investigated for alleged 'gross neglect'

An ex-funeral home director is under scrutiny once again following a disturbing discovery about the handling of human remains. Yeah, Arizona State Health officials are pointing to a pattern of gross neglect by Franklin Lambert, a man with a documented history of violations that stem back to 2011. Fox 10 investigator Justin Lum has this exclusive report. We want to warn you that the details we uncovered in these state health records are graphic and may be disturbing to hear. This latest inspection happened in early September, but Franklin Lambert's history of alleged sanitation and dignity violations spans more than a decade. Those incidents led to the removal of his cremationist and funeral director licenses, but the state left him with his embalmer's license and leaves us the question of why in our report. Grave Neglect. I want answers. Jana Harberts lost the woman she loved the most. She knew that pain was inevitable. What she didn't expect was the ordeal of laying her mother to rest. Patricia Faye Kelly was 78 and a longtime seamstress in Florence. She was a proud grandmother of 11 with 14 great-grandchildren. Patricia passed away on September 2, 2024, and she was going to be cremated at Family Burial and Cremation Center in Mesa. But after Jana waited weeks for her mother's cremains, she became concerned. They were permanently closed, big red letters. And so I'm freaking out and I'm going. Now what? It took a month and a half before she learned that Family Burial and cremation center was out of business. He called me on the 21st and told me that he had my mom back from the crematorium. He was just waiting on the death certificates to be mailed. She's talking about Franklin Lambert, who she finally got a hold of again on October 16th. But a crucial inspection at the business happened the same day that Patricia Kelly died and was brought to the mortuary. According to the state's Department of Health report, Lambert was the only employee on site on September 2nd when an investigator found a recently embalmed decedent fully nude on a metal table. They also discovered unembalmed bodies registering temperatures of 75 degrees left out in the prep room to make room in the cooler. And there was a failure to maintain temperatures below My first reaction was... Why was he even allowed to continue picking people up? Because that inspection was the day, the morning of my mom passing away. And he picked her up in the evening. DHS says there was a pattern of gross neglect and unprofessional conduct, noting that the facility had not properly refrigerated and covered its dead since November 2024. We found other inspections, including a survey from April 2024, when family burial and cremation already faced a potential license revocation. Records show staff failed to verify ID tags and even released the wrong cremains to one family. The report says DHS found body donations in plastic bags stacked inside a casket. Frank wasn't around when we visited, but he answered the phone. Hey Frank, my name is Justin Lundman with Fox 10 News. Do you have a moment to chat about the mortuary here? He said he was headed to another burial service and that I could call back later. We did, and he didn't answer that time. But that's not all we learned. In a November 2024 inspection that revealed 12 violations, investigators discovered a strong odor of decay, an embalmed body left uncovered, and plastic bottles piled between a decedent's legs. This was followed by citations and then a year-long delay in a failed settlement conference that led to the state's notice of intent to revoke the mortuary's license by January 2026. The facility continued to operate while DHS's Lambert presented himself as owner and funeral director. That's a problem because his funeral director license was revoked in 2019. So ownership was transferred to his wife, Lisa Lambert. Rewind to 2015, and the now-defunct State Board of Funeral Directors and embalmers documented gurneys stacked with bodies left out of refrigeration at a mortuary that Franklin Lambert worked for. In 2011, Lambert's cremationist license was revoked after an investigation into his former crematory found unrefrigerated bodies in collapsed containers of human remains. Those two investigations were verified through a civil lawsuit. Filed by Lambert in 2017, accusing the state of trying to ruin his business. Both parties eventually agreed to have the case dismissed with prejudice. We reached out to the Department of Health for comment, asking why Lambert was allowed to keep embalming. A spokesperson says the agency was not involved in any compliance or enforcement decisions prior to June 2023. That's when the State Board for Funeral Directors and Embalmers shut down. And the Department of Health absorbed oversight. DHS says it won't comment on potential enforcements, including Lambert's. Jana wishes she knew about his history. But now she just wants the state to explain why he hasn't been stopped sooner. It's been a very emotional roller coaster. Everything from fear to anger to just violated. Less than two weeks after the last inspection, Lisa Lambert signed a consent agreement to surrender the license of Family Burial and Cremation Center. This officially ended operations on September 23rd. Lisa Lambert is not allowed to own, operate, or work in the Arizona funeral industry for 10 years, but her husband Franklin can keep embalming the dead. I'm Fox 10 investigator Justin Lum.