Fetal Remains Found On Property Of Dr. Ulrich Klopfer Buried In South Bend

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (CBS) -- Thousands of unidentified fetal remains found on personal property associated with Dr. Ulrich Klopfer, an Indiana abortion doctor who died in September, were buried Wednesday in South Bend.

Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill spoke at the memorial service around noon at Southlawn Cemetery and Palmer Funeral Home. About 200 people were in attendance.

Authorities in Will County found more than 2,200 aborted fetal remains in Klopfer's garage in south suburban Crete Township after his death. His family has said they found them in the garage, and never knew he'd been storing them there.

Fetal remains were found in moldy boxes, and Styrofoam coolers held leaking medical waste bags. Sloppy, smudged, and incomplete records might explain which remains belonged to which patients.

"It's virtually impossible to determine which remain goes with which record," Hill said at the time of the discovery last year.

Weeks after the garage discovery, more remains were found in Klopfer's car. In all, authorities found Klopfer had improperly stored more than 2,400 fetal remains on personal property.

Hundreds of thousands of health records from Klopfer's practice also were left abandoned in his former clinics, as well as storage units and another garage he owned.

A preliminary report from Hill's office found the remains are from abortions performed between 2000 and 2003. However, because Klopfer did not properly dispose of the remains, or notify patients about their medical records, authorities can't confirm the identities of the individual remains.

Klopfer had clinics in Gary, South Bend, and Fort Wayne. His family, who have fully cooperated with investigators, discovered the remains.

They have since been moved to Indiana.