The remains of two babies were found stored in the ceiling of an Indiana funeral home on Wednesday, leaving investigators scrambling to find out when and how they got there in the first place.
The babies, one of whom is now "mummified," were discovered inside boxes in ceiling tiles at the Smith, Bizzell, Warner & Son Funeral Home in Gary, WLS reported. There were no obvious signs of injuries, but causes of death for both are pending autopsies to be performed by the Lake County Coroner's Office.
Funeral home officials said the remains were already at the home when the current owners, Concord Family Services Inc., purchased the business in 2005. One of the babies, a boy of unknown age, had an ID claiming he was born in March 2012, however the accuracy of that date is uncertain.
"We're going to get together, go over all the paperwork, find out the ownership, get records of ownership of the establishment," Gary Police Department Sergeant Thomas Decanter told WLS.
The sex of the other baby is not yet clear, but records indicate it was stillborn and came to the funeral home in 1996.
An unnamed funeral home spokeswoman said it's possible the babies were "unclaimed fetuses" the home was in the process of finding a final resting place for.
