Funeral home director arrested after bodies found in garage
10:42
Investigators say the three bodies were left in the hot, dingy garage for an extended period of time after being dropped off by a nursing home to the funeral home around the corner.
A coffin and two cardboard body boxes were found in that garage on the 2600 block of Hagert Street, police say.
The funeral home, which had been in Powell-Dailey's family for decades, had been operating without a license since 2012.
It
was not known why the facility was allowed to continue operating despite
the lack of license and multiple tax claims filed against the business
by Philadelphia in recent years.
Bodies
of Albert Andrews, 84, who died July 26, and Sally Czarnecki, 86, who
died August 13, were in unsealed cardboard cremation boxes.
The
body of Leon Nelson, 89, who died August 11, was in an unsealed coffin
when the bodies were found on the 25th, according to a suit filed
against Powell-Dailey.
Pearson said she and her family learned of the improper handling of her father's body through media reports.
They called Powell-Dailey, who allegedly told them Andrews had been cremated.
But
when the family repeatedly contacted Ivy Hill Cemetery, where he was
supposed to be interred, the cemetery said Powell Dailey never delivered
his remains.
 |
| Albert Andrews |
"She said I want you to know I did nothing wrong. She said it's the media coming after poor, black businesses," said Pearson.
Andrews is now laid to rest in an historic cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland, where Pearson lives.
Powell Dailey is now in police custody.
 |
| Leon Nelson |
"I
don't want her to have the opportunity to do this kind of thing to any
other families because it really hurt us," said Pearson.
Source: ABC News
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