Another 'Heinous' Discovery in a Detroit Funeral Home

Cops found 63 fetuses stashed away
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Oct 20, 2018 4:30 PM CDT
'Stunned' Cops Find 63 Fetuses Stashed in Funeral Home
The Perry Funeral home in Detroit. Using a search warrant, the Detroit Police removed 63 remains of fetuses from the facility near Wayne State University on Friday.   (Eric Seals/Detroit Free Press via AP)

Police removed the remains of 63 fetuses from a Detroit funeral home and regulators shuttered the business amid a widening investigation of alleged improprieties at local funeral homes. Detroit police Chief James Craig said officers found 36 fetuses in boxes and 27 others in freezers during Friday's raid at the Perry Funeral Home. He said he was "stunned" by the discovery, which came a week after the remains of 10 fetuses and one infant were discovered in a ceiling at Detroit's defunct Cantrell Funeral Home. Those remains were found after state regulators in Lansing received an anonymous letter. Michigan Licensing and Regulatory Affairs said the remains found at the Perry Funeral Home were turned over to state investigators, who immediately declared the funeral home closed and its license suspended, per the AP.

Inspectors said in a statement that they had found "heinous conditions and negligent conduct" at the Perry Funeral Home, including numerous failures to certify death certificates and obtain proper permits for burial. The statement said Friday's findings point clearly toward criminal offenses "punishable by imprisonment for not more than 10 years or a fine of not more than $50,000 or both." Craig said the investigation into the Perry Funeral Home began after a man who has sued that business over its handling of remains of infants and fetuses saw coverage of the discoveries at the Cantrell Funeral Home and told his attorney to contact police. (Authorities believe at least one of the Cantrell fetuses had been on the property since 2009.)

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