Funeral Home Lets Bodies Drip and Decay

A national funeral home corporation is under investigation for improper handling of mortal remains, including the remains of U.S. military personnel headed for Arlington National Cemetery, at the National Funeral Home in Falls Church, Virginia.   A former employee alleges that as many as 200 bodies and coffins were stored in an unrefrigerated garage on make shift gurneys and racks for weeks to months, dripping fluids on the floor as they decayed.  One witness stated that he saw naked bodies exposed in the garage. 

The corporation, SCI, operates over 1,700 funeral homes nationwide and has been under scrutiny for improper handling before.  Nationwide Funeral Home was under a three year probation for unsanitary conditions.  Multiple employees confirm the conditions.  

For more information, see Josh White,Family Asks Fairfax Prosecutor to Investigate Funeral Home, Washington Post, April 7, 2009; Josh White, ‘I Never Could Have Imagined’, Washington Post, April 5, 2009.  A Washington Post video is linked here.

Thanks to Lewis J. Saret (Moore & Bruce, LLP) for bringing these articles to my attention.