Police Investigate Detroit Funeral Home Where 11 Baby Bodies Found

"The fetuses were in a cardboard box in the attic, the baby futures were in a small makeshift coffin," he said.

Craig testified that the Detroit Police Peer Support Group provided advice to the police officers who helped with the search, which allowed them to meet police officers to discuss the stress they were experiencing at work or where they were. outside.

"What these officers saw was horrible," said Craig. "Then I had the support of peers to reach them."

Friday's search follows an anonymous tip received in August by state authorities that inspectors had forgotten bodies in the funeral home in April, Craig said.

"When the inspectors came back in August, they found a fetus and an adult body cremated," Craig said.

State investigators have forgotten the bodies of the eleven children during inspections in April and August because they were hidden above a false ceiling, said the chief.

Craig said the Detroit police were handling the criminal investigation, while LARA was using the Attorney General's office to investigate a civil investigation.

Andrea Bitely, spokeswoman for the Attorney General's Office, confirmed Monday that the agency was investigating the case.

"We are working with our local and regional partners to determine what happened at Cantrell Funeral Home," Bitely said in an e-mail.

Michigan law requires that stillbirths be reported to the state registry office within five days of delivery.

Craig said that he had contacted Wayne County attorneys and the Wayne County Medical Examiner about the case.

The former owner of the Raymond Cantrell II funeral home, who lives in Alabama, did not respond to phone calls seeking comment.

Cantrell and the funeral home have been facing problems in recent years, including tax issues and numerous lawsuits against him.

Earlier this year, the facility was seized for $ 82,907.28. It was auctioned last month for $ 85,000 to Naveed Syed, CEO of Quality Behavioral Health Services, a nonprofit drug treatment center and a counseling service, according to the Wayne County Treasurer's Office .

In June, three sisters filed a lawsuit against the funeral home after their mother 's remains were found at the scene after the April public inspection.

Tamika, Shandanique and Tanisha Jordan said in a lawsuit, filed in Wayne Circuit Court, that their mother, Marcia Jordan, had died on March 17, 2018 at the age of 62. They hired the Cantrell funeral home to handle the arrangements, "including removal of the body," printing obituaries, embalming, family time, casket, cemetery, transportation and burial, as well as other things, " said the prosecution.

The sisters paid $ 7,371 for services, according to the lawsuit.

On March 19, the sisters ordered a casket, but nine days later, "the day of the viewing service (the funeral home) informed the Jordans that they did not have the coffin," said the lawsuit, adding that the sisters had to choose another casket without seeing it. The trial also revealed that the funeral home misspelled their mother's name in the obituary.

The lawsuit further alleges that the funeral home organized a fake burial.

"The accused did a service at the cemetery, but did not bury (Marcia Jordan)," said the official.

"The accused led a procession to the cemetery with a hearse," the lawsuit says. "The accused brought the late Marcia Jordan into a hearse at the cemetery, and the defendants did a service in the cemetery chapel.

"There remained only the accused to place (Marcia Jordan) at his last resting place," said the prosecution. "The accused did not bury Ms. Marcia Jordan.The defendants instead brought Ms. Jordan's body back to Cantrell Funeral Home and placed her in a garage."

A month later, on April 25, the state closed the funeral home after finding deplorable conditions. The next day, the Jordan sisters "received a call from the state informing them that their mother's body had been found in a funeral home garage," says the lawsuit, which claims more than $ 25,000 in damages and interests.

The sisters must organize another funeral. The lawsuit says that they have "suffered and continue to suffer a great emotional trauma".

The lawsuit alleges undue interference with burial rights, negligent interference with burial rights, breach of contract and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The sisters' lawyer, Yosef C. Klein, declined to comment beyond what was in the lawsuit. Cantrell's lawyer, Robert E. Packus, also declined to comment.

In another lawsuit filed in the 36th district court in Detroit in June, J.A.R. Incinerator Services stated that Cantrell had failed to pay $ 20,560 for cremation services.

"(Cantrell) has made personal guarantees and other assurances that he would be held liable for the payment of services provided as an incentive to (JAR) to continue to grant credits," specified the pursuit.

A third lawsuit, also filed in the 36th District Court in May, alleges that the funeral home owes Trinity Cemetery in Detroit more than $ 18,000 for funeral services.

"(Trinity) made repeated requests for payment (and the funeral home) made no payment," said the attorney, adding that Cantrell had written "bounced checks … that blew up (Trinity) and resulted in bank charges. "