Dozens of bodies found stacked in U-Haul trucks outside NY funeral home, cops say

Dozens of bodies were found stacked in two U-Haul trucks outside of a New York City funeral home, media outlets report.

Passersby called police for a foul odor coming from the trucks outside the Andrew Cleckley Funeral Homein Brooklyn, according to NY1. When police investigated the truck, they found several dozen bodies stacked in body bags, The New York Times reported.

PIX11 reported that between 30 to 60 bodies were being stored in the trucks, which were not refrigerated, according to the New York Post, and the bodies were decomposing. Other bodies were lying on the floor of the funeral home, the Post reported.

“It appears the truck was full,” Eric L. Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, told the Times. “They were trying to use U-Haul as a backup. This is traumatizing to family members.”

A neighboring property owner told New York Post that he had seen bodies being stored in the trucks for “at least several weeks during the coronavirus pandemic.”

“You don’t respect the dead that way,” John DiPietro, the neighbor, told the Post. “That could have been my father, my brother.”

New York’s healthcare system is “under extraordinary strain” as the coronavirus pandemic continues, the Times reported. New York City has become the epicenter of the pandemic, and at least 14,000 people in the city have died from COVID-19, according to the news outlet.

The city had obtained freezer trucks for funeral homes to temporarily hold bodies during the coronavirus pandemic, according to ABC News. The city sent “proper storage equipment” to the funeral home after learning about the U-Hauls, the news outlet reported.

The New York Police Department told news outlets that no criminality is suspected, but the investigation is ongoing.

This story was originally published April 29, 2020 at 10:10 PM with the headline "Dozens of bodies found stacked in U-Haul trucks outside NY funeral home, cops say."