If you thought Pasadena, CA was not haunted ( or didn’t have horrific things happening at all), think again. We here at S.I.U. The Supernatural Investigation Unit, seem to keep attracting stories from around town. We didn’t think there was so much more to Pasadena, than we thought. For the longest time, we just thought Pasadena’s hauntings were the Colorado St. Bridge, and The Haunted Forest. It’s accumulated since we’ve started. Our newest creepy story comes from a former Pasadena Mortician named David Wayne Sconce.
This guy was apparently “the worst funeral director ever” according to Caleb Wilde, who runs the popular facebook page Confessions of a Funeral Director. He’s not talking about his skills. He means, he was extremely corrupt. I found this out on his blog about death facts. One of the pictures mentioned a Pasadena mortician ran an illegal crematory in Hesparia, CA. I didn’t think he meant Pasadena, CA. Sure enough, he did. It was disguised as a ceramics plant. Fortunately, a man called the police and told them he was smelling dead bodies. The station didn’t believe him. He then followed it up with “Don’t tell me I’m not smelling dead bodies! I was in Auschwitz!” Fair enough, right? Here’s part of an article from the Whittier Daily News.
“Oscar’s Ceramics on Darwin Road in Hesperia, a plant that purportedly was making ceramic panels for space stations, was instead a secret crematorium. Investigators on Jan. 20, 1987 found two large kilns, each more than half filled with the burning bodies of human beings. Human bones and ashes partially filled eight 55-gallon garbage cans. The thick, dark liquid of human body fats and oils covered the floor, running out the back door to a makeshift pit. Pasadena Crematorium, located in Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena. The Altadena crematorium was gutted by fire Nove. 23, 1986, yet the cremations credited to the facility continued. David Sconce was operating an unlicensed crematorium in Hesperia.”
That’s not the only bad thing he did. As a matter of fact, the list goes on.
-He sold body parts and organs. In the process of this, he counterfeited the organ donor consent forms.
-Authorized mass cremations.
-Had gangs beat rivaling morticians.
-Had a hitman target a business competitor who was going to purchase a rivaling crematiory facility.
-He had stolen gold denture teeth.
-Plead guilty on 21 accounts. Did a two and a half year sentence in jail.
Sconce’s parents were involved in his scandal. They ran The Lamb Funeral Home on Orange Grove Blvd. According to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, “The Lamb Funeral Home (the funeral home owned by Sconce) case led to a massive lawsuit that also involved 100 mortuaries that contracted with the funeral home for cremations. The $15.5 million suit in 1991 involved 20,000 relatives of people cremated at the funeral home.”
The Former Lamb Funeral Home is now the Avalon Funeral Home. However, it seems to be abandoned as of recent. As of right now, since we haven’t investigated the place, we have no evidence to say that it is haunted. All we can say as of right now, is that it is a potential haunting. We know the patterns of a haunting. With all the history of this building, there’s definitely spirits that are not at rest. We’re speaking in theory. The fact that it is abandoned now, says something. The history is disturbing, and it probably opened some negative doorways. Whenever bodies are not properly put to rest or the deceases wishes were not fulfilled, it causes the spirit to be stuck. I’m sure the spirits have some things they would like to say to Sconce and his parents.
It’s unfortunate that Mountain View Cemetery had to deal with Sconce as well. There has been reports of paranormal activity at the cemetery and the mausoleum’s. There’s been disembodied footsteps and voices in the Mountain View Mausoleum. One worker reported a man in a suit on the third floor. The worker said he was chased out by this man, turned around, and saw no one there. Wonder if these spirits are ones that had to deal with Sconce’s undertaking, and have something that they want to share with us. Perhaps some simple wishes to be fulfilled.
http://photos.whittierdailynews.com/2013/05/07/photos-former-pasadena-mortician-sentenced-to-life-at-pasadena-superior-court-monday-may-6-2013/#8
http://www.sgvtribune.com/20130131/former-pasadena-mortician-convicted-of-mass-cremations-stealing-gold-waives-extradition-to-california
www.calebwilde.com/2015/.../this-guy-is-the-worst-funeral-director-ever
