Law Bodies of 11 infants found in ceiling of closed funeral home - Spoilers: It's in Detroit

https://abcnews.go.com/US/bodies-11-infants-found-ceiling-closed-funeral-home/story?id=58473520

In a disturbing discovery, the bodies of 11 deceased infants were found in the ceiling of a shuttered funeral home in Detroit on Friday.

The bodies were found in bags, most in a cardboard box and others stuffed in a small coffin, police said.

The discovery was made after the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), which licenses funeral homes, was sent an anonymous letter Friday afternoon, which described exactly where the remains could be found.

"It's just the callousness of the operators, the owners, the employees of the funeral home [that stands out]," Detroit Police Department Lt. Brian Bowser said at a press conference Friday night. "The inspectors from LARA located the boxes, or the one box and the casket, and they subsequently called 911. The police responded, they removed the box and the casket from the false ceiling, or the lowered ceiling, and they opened them up and obviously they discovered the remains."

"They were actually in a cardboard box, nine of the 11 -- they're very small remains," Bowser continued. "They were in a cardboard box stuffed away from a stairwell."

Bowser said they have names of some of the deceased infants and the medical examiner will conduct an investigation.

The Cantrell Funeral Home was shut down in April due to a number of disturbing violations, according to Detroit ABC affiliate WXYZ.

Violations included dirty floors, peeling paint, mold, improper storage of embalmed bodies, with one in "advanced stage of decomposition," and fraud, deceit, or dishonesty, incompetence, and gross negligence in the practice of mortuary science." LARA called the violations "deplorable" at the time.

The Detroit Police Department will continue to investigate the discovery Friday and had cadaver dogs searching the property, Bowser said.

"Obviously we have to find out what happened, and why it happened," he said.

LARA released a statement to WXYZ explaining the discovery and the April violations.

"Based on a new complaint, LARA investigators today searched Cantrell Funeral Home and found the decomposing bodies of 11 infants," the statement said. "We then immediately contacted local authorities. In April, LARA suspended the mortuary licenses of both the home and its manager Jameca LaJoyce Boone for many violations including the improper storage of decomposing bodies of adult and infants. That suspension order remains in effect as does our investigation. We will use the evidence gathered today to add to our open investigation and will continue to work with local law enforcement as this case proceeds."

The property has been sold and the new owners plan to turn it into a community center, according to WXYZ.

*rates Horryfying and Izlamic Content*

 

[REGENDarySumanai]

That's eleven bodies too many right there. The fact that people mistreated the bodies of the dead in an environment where the dead should be treated with care really should anger the community.

 

[KE 521]

Jameca LaJoyce Boone With a name like that the jokes write themselves

 

[stupidpieceofshit]

What the fuck is up with South East Michigan lately? It seems like every few days a topic comes up from that area.
The Charter School Closing,
The fake news serial killer who killed pedos
This one and I think a few others.

 

[dopy]

dead baby jokes are NOT funny, and 11 dead babies in detroit, is even LESS funny!!!!

 

[BILLY MAYS]

I don't see the problem, they are corpses in a place to store corpses.

Nothing unusual there.

 

[Bunny Tracks]

When I first read the title I assumed that it happened in China, and the more I think about it, the more I fear that it might be for the same reason. What I'm saying is that I hope to God that these babies were already dead by the time they got to that funeral home.

 

[RG 448]

It’s less horrifying than one baby in eleven funeral homes.

 

[idosometimes]

This is shameful. Babies are small. They could have jammed all of them in an adult's regular sized coffin right before it was buried with no one being the wiser. I can see getting a backlog of full size bodies because of laziness and incompetence, but not babies.

 

[Y2K Baby]

The horrible secret to blue blood is revealed.

 

[J A N D E K]

This is shameful. Babies are small. They could have jammed all of them in an adult's regular sized coffin right before it was buried with no one being the wiser.

While more dignified than in an attic, still morally and ethically wrong.

 

[NSFW]

How do 11 babies even go unclaimed? No one wanted a funeral or a casket or an urn with ashes in return?

 

[chunkygoth]

How do 11 babies even go unclaimed? No one wanted a funeral or a casket or an urn with ashes in return?

They may have been unwanted babies. Some - especially the small ones - may have been premies or otherwise sick babies that died and maybe the parents didn't want an open casket.

 

[J A N D E K]

They may have been unwanted babies. Some - especially the small ones - may have been premies or otherwise sick babies that died and maybe the parents didn't want an open casket.

They were all, most likely, intended for cremation. The funeral home pocketed the money and skipped the cremation. Funeral homes often have unclaimed cremated remains, so they probably gave these families urns with someone else’s remains in it. One average person’s cremated remains would easily divide up to well over 11 babies.

 

[Krokodil Overdose]

Huh, I didn't know Kermit Gosnell moonlighted as a funeral home director. But it makes sense in hindsight.

 

[J A N D E K]

“Show me the manner in which a nation cares for its dead and I will measure with mathematical exactness the tender mercies of its people, their respect for the laws of the land, and their loyalty to high ideals.”

~ Sir William Gladstone

Rest In Peace, little ones... you deserved so much better.

 

[QT 219]

At this point, the State of Michigan has been so mismanaged, it's not even a state anymore. It's a No Man's Land. A Mad Max-esque wasteland come to life. Don't believe me? Water and electricity outages statewide. Every major roadway and interstate, starting at its borders, turn into gravel roads and potholed death traps. Gangs of roaming transients flag down unsuspecting travelers and steal their car and money to escape the state.

I vote we just let the Upper Peninsula become it's own state and wall off the borders of Lower Michigan to make it a free range prison for violent offenders.

 

[Uncle Warren]

What the fuck is up with South East Michigan lately? It seems like every few days a topic comes up from that area.
The Charter School Closing,
The fake news serial killer who killed pedos
This one and I think a few others.

It's the water, obviously. People tend to go mad when they drink lead contaminated water.

 

[Jaded Optimist]

To anyone surprised that they could get away with 11 infants not being given back to their family, dont forget that Tri-state crematorium in Georgia wasn't caught until there was 300 bodies.

 

[Alec Benson Leary]

At this point, the State of Michigan has been so mismanaged, it's not even a state anymore. It's a No Man's Land. A Mad Max-esque wasteland come to life. Don't believe me? Water and electricity outages statewide. Every major roadway and interstate, starting at its borders, turn into gravel roads and potholed death traps. Gangs of roaming transients flag down unsuspecting travelers and steal their car and money to escape the state.

I vote we just let the Upper Peninsula become it's own state and wall off the borders of Lower Michigan to make it a free range prison for violent offenders.

It's even worse than that. A bunch of LPers come from Michigan.