Funeral home shut down after officials say maggots, rotting bodies found
FLINT, Mich. -- A Michigan funeral home was shuttered by authorities after state inspectors uncovered what they're calling deplorable and unsanitary conditions.
CBS Detroit reports the mortuary science licenses of the Swanson Funeral Home in Flint, and manager O'Neil Swanson II, have been suspended due to multiple violations, including the presence of maggots, human blood and rotting corpses stored without refrigeration, Michigan's Licensing and Regulatory Affairs department said Wednesday.
Numerous complaints led to investigations, which determined the funeral home smelled of decomposing bodies. The garbage where the bodies were stored was not air-conditioned, and some of the corpses were in the garbage for up to five months, the state said.
"Michigan residents trust funeral home directors, owners, and their establishments to follow the law especially when dealing with the death of a loved one," said CSCL Director Julia Dale. "We will continue to aggressively hold every funeral home in Michigan to the highest standards of public health and safety when providing final arrangements."
The license for the Flint facility is held by Swanson's Funeral Home, Inc., which is an assumed name of Swanson Group (Flint), Inc., and a separate legal entity and license from any facility in Detroit, said Jason Moon, spokesman for the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.
The funeral home could be subject to fines of up to $10,000 for each violation, as well as jail time, by the state. The alleged violations, as outlined by LARA, include:
- An unannounced inspection in May found five bodies in cardboard cremation containers that had been at the funeral home for more than 72 hours. One of the bodies had been there close to a month. Only one was embalmed.
- A September 2016 inspection found the preparation room was "unsanitary" and "the hand wash sink contained what appeared to be dried blood, hair and pieces of tissue." Ten bodies also were being stored in cardboard cremation containers in the garage for more than 72 hours. Only one of the bodies had been embalmed. One of the bodies that had not been embalmed was in the garage for about six weeks.
- Remains of two unrefrigerated bodies were found in October 2015 in the funeral home's garage. The remains were in cardboard cremation containers, stacked atop one another against a back wall. The bodies were of people who had died in 2014.
- A May 2, 2012, complaint to the Michigan Occupational Health and Safety Administration alleged that employees at the funeral home worked without protective gear and were exposed to bodily fluids of the deceased.
The Associated Press left a phone message and email Wednesday seeking comment from the funeral home.