A Maryland mother says she is grieving her 8-year-old son all over again after learning the ashes she received from a local crematorium are not human remains.

In late 2024, Michelle Bivens lost her youngest child, Jabril, after he was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer; he died eight months later, per The Root. Bivens chose to have her child cremated and entrusted Heaven Bound Crematorium in Charles County, Maryland, with his remains. 

However, Biven was shaken after learning the business was under state investigation for the alleged mishandling of bodies. The business reportedly had a non-functioning cremation chamber and left decomposing bodies stacked in cardboard boxes, authorities said.

State investigators charged the facility’s owners, Rosa and Brandon Williams, with eight counts of mishandling human remains after police said they found bodies stored in plastic bags in the couple’s home garage, News 7 reports.

Once Bivens saw those allegations, she reached out to attorney Cedric Lewis, who represents multiple families suing the crematorium. Lewis arranged for an independent expert to analyze what the grief-stricken mother had been told were her son’s ashes.

A 27-page expert report concluded the boy's "remains were in fact not human remains,” Lewis said to News 7. “What she was provided — which at this point we don’t know what they are — but what we do know is they aren’t human remains.”

Lewis said his priority now is getting answers for families and holding the crematorium accountable through the courts.

“To find this out, I mean, I don’t know where my son is,” Bivens said. “Watching your child die in front of you and then to get this type of news — it’s a lot.”