Indiana funeral director’s license suspended as investigation into improperly stored bodies continues

JEFFERSONVILLE — The licenses for an Indiana funeral director and his facility have been suspended greater than a month after 31 unrefrigerated corpses had been present in physique luggage all through the ability.

Randy Ray Lankford agreed to give up the licenses for himself and his facility, Lankford Funeral Residence and Household Heart. The State Board of Funeral and Cemetery Service authorized the suspensions Thursday.

The our bodies had been discovered by Jeffersonville Police on July 1. Authorities say among the our bodies had been saved there for an prolonged interval, with no less than one in all them having been there since March. The officers additionally discovered the cremated stays of 17 people.

“Grieving households should be capable of belief that their family members’ stays shall be respectfully and correctly dealt with,” Lawyer Normal Todd Rokita mentioned in a information launch. “Additional, the unsanitary situations at this funeral residence posed a transparent and quick risk to public well being and security.

At the least two households have filed lawsuits in connection to the case. The licenses are suspended indefinitely.

Paperwork say the Clark County Coroner’s Workplace is at the moment within the strategy of figuring out the our bodies and stays and returning them to their households.

The investigation is ongoing, and Rokita’s workplace is asking anybody with info to contact the Lawyer Normal’s Licensing Enforcement Part by calling 1-800-382-5516.