Michigan forms team to look into funeral home problems

Officials in Michigan announced Thursday that the governor has created a team to address funeral home problems after authorities recently found remains of dozens of fetuses at two Detroit funeral homes.

The team will include members from multiple state agencies and will investigate allegations of improper body disposal, prepaid funeral violations and other complaints. It follows an increase in complaints handled by mortuary-science regulators with Michigan’s Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, that office said. Republican Gov. Rick Snyder is also adding three new regulators, bringing the total to seven. The Licensing and Regulatory Affairs’ mortuary-science program oversees 751 funeral homes and more than 2,100 mortuary science licenses in Michigan. It also has oversight over prepaid funeral contracts.

Police have been investigating Detroit’s shuttered Cantrell Funeral Home after mummified remains of 10 fetuses and a fullterm infant were found hidden last month in a ceiling. Regulators had closed that business in April due to improperly stored bodies. Another Detroit business, the Perry Funeral Home, is under investigation after authorities subsequently found 36 fetuses in boxes and 27 others in freezers.

“We have seen a recent spike in complaints from consumers and others in the funeral home industry and unfortunately these allegations have led to several horrific discoveries,” Licensing and Regulatory Affairs Director Shelly Edgerton said in a release.

The State Police will be on the state’s team looking into allegations of violations.