Nearly 50 Bodies Found In Four U-Haul Trucks Outside of NYC Funeral Home

On Wednesday, dozens of bodies were located inside of U-Haul trucks outside of an NYC funeral home that had recently become overwhelmed by the mounting death toll as a result of the coronavirus crisis in the city, which has seen more than 165,000 positive coronavirus cases and nearly almost 13,000 deaths.

The bodies were unearthed when someone passing by the Andrew T. Cleckley Funeral Home in the Flatlands neighborhood of Brooklyn noticed a foul odor and called authorities to report it. When police responded, they discovered that the funeral home had rented four U-Haul trucks, which were being used to store about 50 bodies. Elsewhere inside the facility, some of the deceased were found lying on the floor, according to the New York Times. The bodies were later seen being transferred into a larger refrigerated truck by people in hazmat suits once the funeral home was able to obtain one. While no criminal charges were filed against the home, they were cited for failing to control the odors, according to an official who spoke with the Associated Press.

The owner of a neighboring property said that he observed the funeral home storing the bodies in trucks for several weeks.

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

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams spoke with the New York Daily News about the findings,  saying that “While this situation is under investigation, we should not have what we have right now, with trucks lining the streets filled with bodies.”

He also confirmed that a passerby is the one who came forward about the poignant order.

“It was people who walked by who saw some leakage and detected an odor coming from a truck.”