The bodies of 11 babies were found hidden in the Detroit Funeral Home

The rotting remains of 11 infants were discovered Friday after Michigan authorities received anonymous information sending them to a closed – door funeral home in East Detroit.

The bodies were found in a box and a coffin hidden in a suspended ceiling between the first and second floors of Cantrell Funeral Home, Lieutenant Brian Bowser of the Detroit Police Department told reporters Friday night. We did not know how long the remains were there.

He added that the Michigan Licensing and Regulatory Affairs Department had received a letter about the remains Friday afternoon and had gone to the funeral home. The agents of the agency then called the police.

Lieutenant Bowser said the officers had found "11 remains of infants, stillbirths".

The State Department closed the funeral home in April because of "deplorable, unhealthy conditions and other violations," he said in a statement.

She found that embalmed bodies had been stored for months in a garage without refrigeration and that some were badly decomposed. It lists violations, including "fraud, deception, dishonesty, incompetence and gross negligence in the practice of mortuary science".

Jameca LaJoyce Boone, director of the funeral home for about a year until it closed, said Saturday that her job involved a funeral and that she was not aware of the remains on the ceiling.

"It's horrible and unethical," said Boone, who was neither a homeowner nor a family member who ran the funeral home. "I do not understand how it happened or why, and I'm just running out of words. That's not the way the funeral industry works. "

In a statement Saturday, the State Department announced that it had suspended the funeral home morgue and Ms. Boone's licenses in April, adding that an investigation into newly discovered bodies was in progress. course.

The owner of the funeral home did not immediately respond to requests for comments on Saturday.

The building where the bodies were found was purchased last month by Quality Behavioral Health, a social services organization, whose founder and president, Naveed Syed, said Saturday.

He added that the building was being repaired and was not yet open to the public when it let the authorities enter on Friday afternoon. He said the discovery was horrible and disturbing, but not surprising.

"They closed in April because of that kind of thing; they found the bodies in the garage, "he said. When state authorities asked to inspect the premises, "my intestine was telling me that there might be something fishy".