More remains of fetuses and infants found at second Detroit funeral home

By Jason Hanna and Kwegyirba Croffie, CNN

(CNN) -- Michigan authorities say they've found improperly kept remains of fetuses and infants at a second Detroit funeral home, just one week after similar remains were found at the first.

Police and license inspectors found the remains of 63 fetuses or infants -- some of whom died three years ago -- at Perry Funeral Home on Friday, the Detroit Police Department said.

Inspectors raided the funeral home in response to a complaint, the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs said, without releasing details of the complaint.

Thirty-seven of the dead fetuses or infants were found in three unrefrigerated boxes, police and the regulatory department said. Twenty-six were in a freezer, police said.

Licensing and Regulatory Affairs said it has suspended the funeral home's mortuary science license because of "multiple violations of Michigan's public health and occupational codes and an imminent threat to the public health and safety."

Police have not said any charges have been filed; Detroit Police Chief James Craig said his department is investigating.

"I am committed to get to the truth," Craig said Friday, according to CNN affiliate WDIV. "... This is deeply disturbing."

Michigan law says funeral directors generally must supervise a body's final disposition within 60 days of receiving it. Those who don't may be found guilty of at least a misdemeanor, punishable by up to 90 days in prison.

For bodies improperly kept beyond 180 days, a director could be charged with a felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Some of the 63 sets of remains found at Perry Funeral Home on Friday were fetuses or infants that died in 2015, Licensing and Regulatory Affairs said.

Licensing and Regulatory Affairs said the funeral home also failed to certify and file death certificates "for the dead bodies of the fetuses and infants for whom they assumed custody with the appropriate governmental authority within 72 hours of death."

A man who answered the phone at Perry Funeral Home on Saturday afternoon declined to comment for this story.

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