PANAMA CITY, Fla. (AP) — Two people are facing multiple charges after authorities found 16 bodies in varying degrees of decay at a funeral home in Florida's Panhandle.
The News-Herald reports Bay County Sheriff's deputies received a tip Sunday about bodies being improperly stored at Brock's Home Town Funeral Home near Panama City. Investigators found some corpses in a refrigeration unit at an improper temperature. Others were in the home's main section. None had been embalmed.
Deputies arrested 64-year-old funeral director Gregory Dunphy and 39-year-old Felicia Boesch, the daughter of the funeral home's owner. They're charged with a combined 16 misdemeanor counts of unlawful storage of human remains.
Sheriff's spokeswoman Ruth Corley says investigators are conferring with the state attorney's office to determine whether they'll face additional charges.
The division of Funeral, Cemetery & Consumer Services regulates the funeral home industry in the state of Florida.
They inspect funeral homes annually checking the cemeteries, refrigeration, cinerator, and direct disposer establishments.
The state suggests you check to see if a funeral home is properly licensed and they recommend a few things to look for like the exteriors and reception area, if there's adequate lighting and air conditioning, if it's clean and how the staff is -- how they're dressed and treat you.
