Krazy Ken...aka...The History Professor
June 10th, 2005, 05:28 PM
Several men posing as funeral home employees stole a dead body from Providence Hospital in Southfield, Michigan late Sunday, police said.
Police arrested two men in connection with the case on Wednesday, and they are expected to be arraigned today. Detectives are still looking for a third man who was part of the unusual heist.
"This is the first case in my 35-year history of someone taking a deceased person," said Southfield Police Detective John Harris.
Southfield Police Chief Joseph Thomas said the men probably intended to take out an insurance policy and then use the body to claim the payout. He added that judging by other reports of fraud, the three men might be part of a larger ring of scam artists that has been nabbing dead bodies throughout Michigan and nationwide.
The suspects tricked a security guard at Providence Hospital into releasing the body from the morgue sometime between 11:30 p.m. and midnight, police said. Detectives were tipped off to the suspects, police said. The two suspects who were arrested -- a 22-year-old and 31-year-old, both of Detroit -- are in the Oakland County Jail.
Harris said the men could face a variety of felony charges ranging from larceny of a body to conspiracy to commit fraud.
The body, that of an 86-year-old man, was found in a Dumpster in the 8600 block of Rosa Parks Boulevard in Detroit on Wednesday, after one of the suspects brought authorities to it, police said.
Harris would not release the name of the deceased man at the request of his family.
Family members, he said, were distraught. The remains will be released to the family after being checked by a medical examiner.
Police arrested two men in connection with the case on Wednesday, and they are expected to be arraigned today. Detectives are still looking for a third man who was part of the unusual heist.
"This is the first case in my 35-year history of someone taking a deceased person," said Southfield Police Detective John Harris.
Southfield Police Chief Joseph Thomas said the men probably intended to take out an insurance policy and then use the body to claim the payout. He added that judging by other reports of fraud, the three men might be part of a larger ring of scam artists that has been nabbing dead bodies throughout Michigan and nationwide.
The suspects tricked a security guard at Providence Hospital into releasing the body from the morgue sometime between 11:30 p.m. and midnight, police said. Detectives were tipped off to the suspects, police said. The two suspects who were arrested -- a 22-year-old and 31-year-old, both of Detroit -- are in the Oakland County Jail.
Harris said the men could face a variety of felony charges ranging from larceny of a body to conspiracy to commit fraud.
The body, that of an 86-year-old man, was found in a Dumpster in the 8600 block of Rosa Parks Boulevard in Detroit on Wednesday, after one of the suspects brought authorities to it, police said.
Harris would not release the name of the deceased man at the request of his family.
Family members, he said, were distraught. The remains will be released to the family after being checked by a medical examiner.