3 bodies found in repossessed van

Vehicle's owner worked for coroner, mortuaries; remains may be ID'd today

07:01 AM CST on Thursday, March 3, 2005

By HOLLY YAN / The Dallas Morning News



Three decomposed bodies were found in a van after it was repossessed Wednesday in Hurst, and authorities say they may have been deceased for about five years.


The van was repossessed Wednesday morning from the home of Donald Short, owner of North Star Transportation Inc., which has transported bodies for funeral homes. The company also had a contract to transport bodies for the Tarrant County medical examiner's office.


Mr. Short, contacted at home Wednesday night, declined to comment.


"I can't say anything," he said. "We need to speak to our lawyer."


Authorities were investigating what laws might have been broken and were trying to determine why the bodies had not been cremated years ago.


Tarrant County Medical Examiner Nizam Peerwani said that Mr. Short had provided names for the three people in the van but that the bodies were so badly decomposed that his office will have to conduct tests to confirm their identities. Authorities hope to identify the bodies today.


"He said he recently got them," Dr. Peerwani said. "But digging back to the records, two of the people died in 1999 and one died in 2000."


Authorities said that though the bodies were to have been cremated, they had not determined what the families of the deceased had received after the deaths.


Hurst police do not believe anyone had tried to reclaim the bodies, Sgt. D. Bramlett said.


Authorities said they think the bodies had been in the van for several months, and neighbors said it had not moved from Mr. Short's house in quite a while.


Mr. Short's wife, Jeri, told Hurst police she did not know the bodies were in the van.


Dr. Peerwani said the three elderly people whom Mr. Short identified died of natural causes and were not handled by his office.


He said a funeral home had allowed Mr. Short to store bodies in its refrigeration facility until recently. He lost his storage privileges several months ago.


"We're not sure where he's kept them since October or November," he said.


Bryce Fichter, who towed the van, said he did not know about the contents until hours later.


"I was notified to come back to our place of employment because they had found some bodies in the back," he said. "I didn't believe nobody 'cause you know we prank each other; we're repo men."


Manager Gary McKnight said police were present when the vehicle was opened.


"He had the bodies covered with, like, cardboard and a blanket and had the bodies all piled on top of each other," he said.


North Star Transportation was near the end of its two-year contract with the county, which paid it about $100,000 a year. The contract was suspended shortly after the discovery of the bodies.


Dr. Peerwani said that until Wednesday, he thought Mr. Short had done good work.


"He's been pretty efficient," Dr. Peerwani said. "He's never been late or delayed and has always been responsive. All this was a big surprise."


According to legal records, Mr. Short, his company and a funeral home were sued in 2001 after the estate of a deceased person said the body had been improperly handled. The status of that legal case was not known Wednesday.


Once the bodies are positively identified, Dr. Peerwani's office will face the difficult task of informing relatives of what happened.


"It's very bizarre," Dr. Peerwani said. "There will be a lot of pain and grief for the families."

From the Austin American Statesman:

Donald Short would be charged with abuse of a corpse, a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a $4,000 fine, said Lt. Mark Krey, a Fort Worth police spokesman. Charges were expected to be filed this week, he said.

The bodies were discovered Wednesday when a van owned by North Star Transportation Service was repossessed. The company had contracts to transport cadavers for a funeral home.