Bodies of 11 babies found in funeral home ceiling

A Detroit funeral home closed down earlier this year for “deplorable, unsanitary” conditions stored the bodies of 11 babies and stillborn infants inside a hatch in the ceiling.

The gruesome discovery at the former Cantrell Funeral Home on the east side of the city was made on Friday following an anonymous tip.

Agents from the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs responding to the unsigned letter found nine decomposing bodies inside a cardboard box in the ceiling crawl-space, and two other infant corpses in caskets placed inside a bin bag.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The mortuary’s licence was suspended in April after an inspection found administrative and accounting irregularities, as well as bodies stored in “deplorable, unsanitary” conditions.

Inspectors reported seeing “embalmed bodies kept in an un-refrigerated garage” at the property, as well as “two bodies covered in what appeared to be mold and another with the face coated in unknown fluids”, the Detroit Free Press reports.

The business closed down following the suspension, and has since been purchased by Naveed Syed, who plans to convert the site into a community centre.

Police say that they have names for some of the remains and are working to identify the rest and contact family members.

The circumstances behind how and when the bodies came to be stowed in the ceiling remain unclear, but Detroit police lieutenant James Demps indicated that some had been there almost a decade, and that unpaid bills could have played a part.

“Some of the bodies had a tag on referring back to 2009, some had receipts on them as if the person or family didn't finish paying,” he told Detroit news station Local 4.

Wayne State University mortuary science professor Dominick Astorino told The Detroit News it was a “disturbing” discovery, at odds with the responsibilities of the profession.

“Funeral directors are entrusted with not only the care of the deceased but also with ensuring that dignity and respect is shown at all times, without exception,” he said.

The former owner of the funeral home, Raymond Cantrell, told Local 4 he was “really sorry that it happened and totally appalled”, but added that “it wasn't something I had any involvement in”.