Remains of 63 Fetuses Found Hidden in a Detroit Funeral Home, a Week After a Similar, Separate Discovery

Police removed the hidden remains of 63 fetuses from a Detroit funeral home Friday. It’s the second funeral home in the area found to be harboring the bodies of deceased infants and still borns in the last few weeks.

The grisly discovery was made at Perry Funeral Homes after police executed a search warrant to search the premises. According to the Detroit Free Press, Detroit Police Chief James Craig told reporters at a press conference that officers uncovered the remains after the department received a tip about the funeral home. The tip came from a father involved in a civil suit with Perry Funeral Homes over the improper burial of his infant daughter.

The Michigan Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, in a statement distributed to local news sources, said the remains have been turned over to state investigators. The statement said the funeral home has been closed and had its business suspended because it posed “an imminent threat to the public health and safety.”

In total, officials said they found 36 fetuses stored in boxes and 27 found in unrefrigerated freezers, according to local station WDIV.

“These are allegations at this point, but it’s very, very disturbing,” Chief Craig said at the press conference. “I have never seen anything like this in my 41-1/2 years on the force, ever.”

The shocking discovery comes only one week after Detroit police found 11 infant corpses in the ceilings of Cantrell Funeral Home after LARA followed up on a complaint. Police recently filed a criminal complaint against the owner of that home.

Craig said at the press conference, the department was looking into investigating whether there is a link to the two cases, though admitted it was very early in the cases.