Family Cremated Mom on Barbecue, Kept Benefits

There's nothing like a backyard barbecue to foster family bonds. In some cases, however, the bonds are a little different than you'd think.

A deceased elderly California woman was cremated on a makeshift barbecue last year by her family, who continued to cash her retirement checks. Ramona Allmond's daughter, Kathleen Allmond, and grandson, Tony Ray, were arrested recently, and police are holding them under suspicion of embezzlement, elder abuse and disposing of a body without a permit. The plot is alleged to have netted them more than $25,000.

Allmond is thought to have died of natural causes before her body was burned in the backyard fire pit. The scheme to collect her retirement checks was discovered after Allmond's son got suspicious about her whereabouts.

Question Raised: Putting aside the insurance fraud, should people be allowed to cremate their dead relatives, like Luke did to Vader in "Jedi"?