“They went right to the location — you have to climb up a ladder to look — and that’s when they observed the box and casket and called 9-11.”

With help from Detroit Police, the bodies of 11 infants and stillborns — stored in a cardboard box and multiple trash bags in one small casket — were found tucked away in a “lowered” false ceiling between the first and second story of the building. @detroitnews pic.twitter.com/unqxCanety — Sarah Rahal (@SarahRahal_) October 13, 2018

Bowser told reporters that inspectors from the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs had received an anonymous letter on Friday detailing how to find bodies inside the now-closed Cantrell Funeral Home. In late April of 2018, state inspectors ordered the funeral home to close after finding “deplorable” conditions that included moldy, unrefrigerated bodies in various states of decomposition, according to MLive.com. DPD Lt. Detective Brian Bowser says they recovered bodies of 11 stillborns improperly stowed in a “hidden false ceiling between the first and second floor of the funeral home” after an anonymous letter was sent to LARA Friday. I don’t know how long that’s been going on there… it’s very unfortunate and they definitely need to find out who put them there.”

The county medical examiner’s office has identified some of the bodies and is notifying the families of the infants.
Acting on an anonymous tip, Michigan state inspectors discover the bodies of 11 badly-decomposed infants inside the ceiling of a former funeral home in Detroit.