Police found 31 bodies, including some inside. “advanced stages of decomposition,”After receiving complaints about bad odors emanating from an Indiana funeral home, authorities stated that the building was now closed.
Major Isaac Parker, Jeffersonville Police Department, stated that officers could smell an odor consistent with a dead body. If you walked inside the business itself, you’d understand this is abnormal for any funeral home,” Parker told WHAS-TV.
Parker said the owner of the Lankford Funeral Home and Family Center has been cooperative and talking with investigators. The ongoing investigation has not led to any charges.
The police did not release any details as it was too early in the investigation that began on the weekend.
Jeffersonville is a small town with approximately 49,000 residents in southern Indiana. It is located across the Ohio River, from Louisville, Kentucky.
Parker also said that the mortuary contained 16 cremated remains.
Tara Owens stated to the news station that she had sent Mike’s remains to the funeral home following his death in April.
Owens claimed that she asked for the cremation of the remains, but that she was not able to contact the funeral home’s owner after having her brother’s body brought to the mortuary.
Owens stated that she was stunned to hear about the police investigation.
The bodies and cremated remains are now in the possession of the Clark County Coroner’s Office.
The website and social media accounts of the Lankford Funeral Home and Family Center have been deactivated. Its business phone answering machine has a recording which directs all calls to the coroner’s offices for assistance. The recording indicated that the voicemail inbox was full and could no longer accept messages.