GARY—The State Board of Funeral and Cemetery Service in Indianapolis filed a formal complaint against the funeral home where officials found bodies of two babies stashed in the ceiling last week.
Nicholas Goodwin, director of communication and legislative affairs for the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency, said the complaint was lodged Monday against Smith, Bizzell and Warner and Son funeral home, 4209 Grant St.
On March 4, Lake County deputy coroners and Gary police went to the funeral home and recovered the bodies of two infants that had been stored in the ceiling of the morgue. One baby, who appeared to have been stillborn, was mummified and had been in the building since 1996, police said. The other was newborn and wore a hospital band with a March 2012 date on it, police said.
Funeral home officials provided police and deputy coroners with conflicting stories about how long the bodies had been there and how they were ultimately recovered.
The bodies are at the Lake County morgue where deputy coroners are attempting to locate relatives. A spokesman for the coroner did not immediately return a message left Tuesday by the Post-Tribune.
Molly Johnson, spokeswoman for the Indiana Attorney General’s office, said Monday the agency will not comment on the investigation until it is complete.
Tony Walker, a Gary attorney representing the funeral home, said in an email that he’s spoken with the Attorney General’s office, which is conducting its own review and has not decided whether to file any charges. Walker said he’s planning to report later this week the findings of an internal investigation conducted on the funeral home’s behalf.
“Preliminarily, we can tell you that we have recovered records showing that the fetal remains removed from the building had been abandoned by a now defunct funeral home that operated out of this location prior to the building’s purchase by LSC Indiana Corporation. Smith, Bizzell and Warner took all the appropriate steps in caring for the remains after their discovery and in getting them to the proper authorities. We are working with the Attorney General and the Funeral Board toward a resolution of their investigation,” Walker said in the email.