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Idaho funeral home closed as police investigate 'suspicious circumstances'
By Louis Casiano
Published September 03, 2021
An Idaho funeral home has temporarily closed and authorities obtained a search warrant for the property amid an investigation by several law enforcement agencies after a badly decomposed body was found, according to local reports.
The Pocatello Police Department said officers arrived at Downard Funeral Home and Crematory on Thursday to investigate "suspicious circumstances" without elaborating further.
Authorities said they were contacted by a state occupational health inspector following a visit to the property, the Idaho State Journal reported. A badly decomposed body and several refrigerated bodies were found inside, the report said.
Investigators with the state Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses visited the funeral home for an annual inspection in response to information it received from the police, the agency told Fox News.
"Our investigators found conditions that were in violation of the Idaho Board of Morticians laws and rules," a DOPL statement reads.
Lance Peck, the owner of the funeral home, voluntarily surrendered his mortuary licenses, it said. The East Idaho News reported Peck has a history of disciplinary violations, including failing to donate a woman's body to the Idaho State University cadaver program and cremating her instead.
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Police are investigating the Downard Funeral Home and Crematory in Pocatello, Idaho after "suspicious circumstances" were uncovered there. (Google Maps)
Local reports said people wearing hazmat gear entered the funeral home on Friday.
The State Journal reported a foul smell outside the property. Authorities attributed the odor to the dead bodies.
Ada County Coroner's Office spokeswoman, Julian Jamieson, told Fox News that the agency delivered a refrigeration trailer to the property Friday morning to store the bodies there at the request of the Bannock County Coroner's Office.
The funeral home has been closed as the investigation continues. Signs on the front doors read: "currently closed" and directed anyone seeking its services to another mortuary for "all calls and funerals," according to the paper.
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Fox News has reached out to the police department, the funeral home, the state Department of Health and Welfare and state Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses.
Law enforcement is asking the public to stay away from the area "out of respect for family members."
Officials are asking anyone with deceased loved ones at the funeral home to contact the Pocatello Police Department at 208-234-6100.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/idaho-funeral-home-suspicious-circumstances