Toledo police investigate corpse-abuse allegations

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Toledo police are investigating allegations that a funeral home employee abused a corpse after two siblings said their mother’s body was fondled by a worker.

Toledo Police Sgt. Joe Heffernan says the employee could face an abuse-of-corpse charge.

The Blade newspaper reports Thursday that the adult children of a 51-year-old woman who died Sunday were told by the H.H. Birkenkamp Funeral Home that their mother’s body was mistreated.

The children told the newspaper the funeral home offered them a free funeral and casket in exchange for not calling police.

Lisa Marshall, a Houston-based spokeswoman for the funeral home, says the employee accused of the abuse has been fired.