Worker finds cremated remains inside Cantrell Funeral Home

Worker hopes not to find more

DETROIT – Another disturbing discovery was made inside the former Cantrell Funeral Home on Detroit's east side.

The cremated remains of four people were found at the funeral home. A worker stumbled across the remains while cleaning the basement, officials said.

NEW: Timeline details state's investigation into Detroit funeral home where fetuses were found

The current owner of the building, Naveed Syed, showed the Defenders where the decomposing bodies of 11 infants were found on Friday. They were hidden inside the ceiling of the shuttered funeral home, officials said.

READCremated remains of 4 people found in last 48 hours at Cantrell Funeral Home in Detroit

The remains of four more people were found in the basement, two Wednesday and two over the last couple of days. Many people are worried there could be more discoveries, because there's more cleanup to do and the facility is large.

Joe Summers is an electrician rewiring the building.

"I found a couple of them yesterday, but I didn't think it was going to continue," Summers said.

The discoveries did continue Wednesday morning. Summers found a black box tucked away.

"So as I get close to it, I pull it up forward and it says Cantrell Funeral on it and it says cremation on it. It has the person's name and the date they passed away," he said.

The year engraved said 1993. He immediately called his supervisor, who contacted the state.

"I was feeling kind of bad, because this is someone's loved one underneath there. They just tossed away like it (was) garbage," he said.

That's the ongoing sentiment surrounding the Cantrell Funeral Home investigation.

The state wants to know why the owners did not properly care for the remains. The state shut down Cantrell in April and removed 21 rotting bodies from the garage. Now Summers wonders just how thorough of a search was performed.

"I mean this place should have been turned inside out, from the smokestacks to the ductworks. Because we're finding these ashes and body parts all over the place. It's ridiculous," he said.

The electrician hopes the discoveries are done.

"My biggest fear is finding more. Hopefully I don't," he said.


About the Authors

Kayla is a Web Producer for ClickOnDetroit. Before she joined the team in 2018 she worked at WILX in Lansing as a digital producer.

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