Remains of more than 60 babies, fetuses found stashed in Detroit funeral home

It follows a similar incident, which saw police find the badly decomposed bodies of 11 babies at a different funeral home.

Detroit Police removed the remains of 63 fetuses from the Perry funeral home and regulators shuttered the business. Source: AP

The remains of more than 60 infants and fetuses were found stashed in a Detroit funeral home, police said, calling the discovery “deeply disturbing.”

The incident comes about a week after the badly decomposed bodies of 11 babies were found hidden in a false ceiling at a different funeral home in the Michigan city.

No connection between the two cases has yet been established, Detroit’s police chief said.

He added city, state and federal investigators were looking to form a task force to investigate the improper storage of human remains.

Using a search warrant, the Detroit Police removed 63 remains of fetuses from the funeral home near Wayne State University on Friday. Source: AP

Unrefrigerated boxes containing about 36 sets of remains were recovered from the Perry Funeral Home along with another 27 sets of remains in a freezer, police said.

“This is deeply disturbing,” Detroit Police Chief James Craig told reporters on Friday. “I have never seen anything like this in my 41-1/2 years (on the force), ever.”

Investigators are working to establish ages and identities.

Detroit Police officers use crime scene tape to cordon off Perry Funeral Home. Source: AP

An official with Perry Funeral Home, which offers burial and cremation services, declined to comment on the incident.

The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs said in a statement it revoked the funeral home’s license and shut down the facility after inspectors “found heinous conditions and negligent conduct at the home.”

A Detroit Police vehicle parked outside the Cantrell Funeral Home in Detroit. Several cremated remains were n found by cleaning crews in a separate case. Source: AP

Police have also launched an investigation into the now defunct Cantrell Funeral Home, where the remains of the 11 babies were uncovered last week after authorities received an anonymous letter leading them to the remains.

Its former operators have not commented to media.

In April, state regulators found “deplorable, unsanitary conditions” at the same premises, including embalmed bodies in an unrefrigerated garage and other badly decomposed remains, the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs said in a statement at the time.

The funeral home was also accused of several licensing and financial violations, the agency said.