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Perry Funeral Home now open after dozens of infant remains discovered last year

Posted at 12:59 PM, Sep 27, 2019
and last updated 2019-09-27 18:27:04-04

DETROIT (WXYZ) — Perry Funeral Home is now open after it was shut down due to infant remains that were discovered last fall.

Investigators raided the funeral home last October and removed the remains. Officers found 36 fetuses in cardboard boxes and 27 more in freezers. The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs revoked the funeral home's license and shut the facility down.

Additionally, dozens of fetuses and infant remains were removed during raids on two cemeteries: The Gethsemane Cemetary on Gratiot Avenue in Detroit and the Knollwood Cemetery in Canton. Officers looked at hundreds of sets of remains from both cemeteries, saying that there were 27 sets of infant and fetal remains that had improper or missing paperwork from Knollwood and 17 from Gethsemane.

On July 29, a Superseding Order of Summary Suspension, which replaces the order of suspension issued last October, was issued against the funeral home and Gary Deak, its designated manager.

According to the order, the funeral home cannot accept custody of infant remains. With this exception, the funeral home can still run other practices of mortuary science.

The funeral home is specifically "prohibited from accepting custody of the remains of unclaimed stillborn and born alive infants from hospitals or facilitate the disposition of unclaimed stillbirths and born alive infants."

Read the full order below:

First Superseding Order of Summary Suspension (2) by WXYZ-TV Channel 7 Detroit on Scribd