Indiana suspends license of funeral home where 31 decomposing bodies were found

  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Indiana officials have indefinitely suspended the license of the Jeffersonville funeral home where 31 decomposing bodies were found in early July.

Indiana’s State Board of Funeral and Cemetery Service approved the indefinite license suspensions Thursday for both Lankford Funeral Home and Family Center and its owner Randy Lankford, according to Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita.

“Grieving families must be able to trust that their loved ones’ remains will be respectfully and properly handled,” Rokita said in a release. “Further, the unsanitary conditions at this funeral home posed a clear and immediate threat to public health and safety.”

The attorney general’s office filed July 26 for an emergency license suspension, citing a “clear and immediate danger to the public’s health, safety, or property.”

Funeral home investigation:What to know about the discovery of 31 bodies in Jeffersonville

Lankford agreed to surrender his licenses July 29. Though the licenses were only now suspended, it does not appear the funeral home has operated since the police investigation began.

Acting on a tip from the Clark County Coroner’s Office, Jeffersonville police found 31 corpses in body bags at the funeral home, 3106 Middle Road, on July 1, details Rokita’s petition. The unrefrigerated bodies, at least one of which had been at the funeral home since March, were in various states of decomposition, and the petition noted three of the building’s four air conditioning units weren’t functional. Cremated remains of 17 individuals were also found at the funeral home, Rokita's release said, after Indiana State Police officials had previously reported 16 were found on the property.

The remains were taken by the Clark County Coroner's Office, with police previously noting that group is working to determine the identities of the bodies and remains to then notify next of kin.

The Lankford Funeral Home and Family Center is shown in Jeffersonville on July 2, 2022.
The Lankford Funeral Home and Family Center is shown in Jeffersonville on July 2, 2022.

Eight families have sued Lankford since the discovery of the bodies, all alleging the remains of their loved ones were mishandled by the funeral home.

Some families allege they never received remains while others are now questioning the remains they did receive, in light of the police investigation.

The suits, which represent just one side of a case, are all pending in Clark Circuit Court.

Families file suit:Lawsuit filed against funeral home accused of mishandling more than 30 bodies

The now-suspended funeral home director has not yet filed a written reply to the multiple lawsuits, online court records show. An email to Lankford’s newly retained attorney was not immediately answered Thursday.

Clark County Prosecutor Jeremy Mull has said he’ll review the case and weigh criminal charges once the police investigation is finished.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Jeffersonville Lankford Funeral Home license indefinitely suspended