Family of Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro to claim body

CLEVELAND (Reuters) - The family of Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro, who hanged himself in prison, will claim his body later on Thursday, Franklin County, Ohio, coroner Dr. Jan Gorniak said. Castro committed suicide on Tuesday by hanging himself with a bed sheet in his cell at an Ohio prison where he was serving a sentence of life plus 1,000 years for the abduction, torture and confinement of three women over about a decade. "I spoke with the family today and I haven't heard of any complications whatsoever regarding services and burial," said Craig Weintraub, the defense attorney for Castro. "It is all going to be private, the service and the burial," he added. Gorniak said she did not know where the body was going after being released from the coroner's office. Pedro Castro, the brother of Ariel who was briefly detained by police in May but released and cleared of any wrongdoing in Ariel's crimes, said he did not want to comment when reached by telephone on Thursday. "Like any regular family they are mourning the loss of a loved one, even in light of his horrific crimes," Weintraub said. (Reporting By Kim Palmer; Writing by Brendan O'Brien; Editing by Greg McCune and Nick Zieminski)