JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. – The southern Indiana funeral home where police found 31 decomposing bodies will have its license suspended indefinitely.
According to Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, Randy Ray Lankford agreed to surrender licenses for himself and his facility, Lankford Funeral Home and Family Center. The State Board of Funeral and Cemetery Service subsequently approved the suspension.
Jeffersonville police searched the facility last month and discovered 31 bodies in various stages of decomposition. The corpses were in body bags and unrefrigerated. Some of the bodies had been at the location for an “extended period,” investigators said, while one had been there since March.
Police also found the cremated remains of more than a dozen other individuals at the location. Officers began their search after receiving a tip about an odor coming from the building.
Rokita’s office filed for the emergency license suspension on July 26.
In a statement, Rokita said grieving families must be assured that their loved ones’ remains will be “respectfully and properly handled.”
“Further, the unsanitary conditions at this funeral home posed a clear and immediate threat to public health and safety,” Rokita said. “We are committed to making sure that anyone entrusted with a professional license issued by the state is meeting the required standards.”
The investigation into the funeral home is ongoing. The funeral home also faces multiple lawsuits from families.
