Outrage After 750-Pound Deceased Woman Hauled to Coroner on Flatbed Truck

Family members and neighbors are outraged after seeing an obese woman who died Tuesday dragged from her home and hauled to the coroners office on the back of a flatbed truck, 6News' theindychannel.com reports.

The Marion County Coroner's Office in Indianapolis came under fire Wednesday after people learned of the way that Teresa Smith, 48, who weighed 750 pounds and died in her apartment, was transported to the office.

Officials said the deputy coroner made the decision to call a towing service to transport the body.

"We debated for quite a while about how we were going to get her out of there and so we finally decided, since we didn't have a van that was large enough to carry her, it was decided between (the police) department and the coroner's office to use (the truck)," Detective Marcus Kennedy told 6News.

Smith's body, while still on her mattress, was dragged across the courtyard of her apartment complex, strapped on the tow truck and covered with a piece of carpet. Her boyfriend, the couple's 13-year-old son, and some neighbors watched as the scene unfolded.

"I think they should have handled it differently, putting her on a flatbed like they did. That was like putting a cow up there," said Smith's boyfriend, David Johnson.

Click here to see a photo of Smith and to read more on this story from 6News' theindychannel.com.