56 boxes of cremated remains found in Ohio house

More than 50 boxes of cremated human remains have been found at a house in southwest Ohio along with documents from a funeral home, police said Tuesday.

The 56 plastic boxes are used by funeral homes as temporary containers for cremated remains, said Dayton police Lt. Wendy Stiver. She said a contractor called police Tuesday after finding the boxes stacked in a closet.

"He said the house is in foreclosure and he was hired to remove remaining items from the house," Stiver told The Associated Press.

Stiver said police notified the Montgomery County coroner's office, which collected the remains. Documents from the McLin Funeral Home in Dayton also were found in the house, she said.

"At this time we are aware of a previous or ongoing state investigation concerning that funeral home," Stiver said, adding that the local investigation might be turned over to the state.

"We really need to identify the remains and seek out more information before we can go further," she said.

The coroner's office said the boxes were labeled with the name of the crematory and the name and date of death of the deceased individual, according to the Dayton Daily News.

Messages left by the AP for the coroner's investigator weren't immediately returned Tuesday.

Stiver said she couldn't confirm the name of the house's owner, but the Dayton newspaper reported that county auditor's records showed it belonged to Scherrie McLin, the former owner of the funeral home.

The state Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors permanently revoked McLin's funeral director's license and that of her funeral home in January after a state investigation revealed that she violated nine state laws and administrative codes, according to the newspaper.

The board, which is the court-appointed receiver of McLin's prepaid funeral service contracts, announced in January that more than $100,000 in prepaid funeral service money was unaccounted for, and the county prosecutor's office is investigating whether criminal charges should be filed against McLin.

McLin couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday. A phone number listed for the funeral home has been disconnected.

Scherrie McLin is the sister of former Dayton Mayor Rhine McLin.