Two people have been bailed as officers removed 35 bodies and a quantity of ashes from a funeral director in Hull, British police have said.
The bodies and ashes were taken from Legacy Independent Funeral Directors on Hessle Road to another mortuary.
A 46-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman were arrested after reports of ‘concern for care of the deceased’.
At a Press conference, Humberside Police said it had received more than 1,000 phone calls from the public.
The pair were in custody on suspicion of prevention of a lawful and decent burial, fraud by false representation and fraud by abuse of position.
Officers cordoned off three Legacy Independent Funeral Directors sites after the force received a report of concerns ‘in relation to the storage and management and processes of the deceased people within those premises’.
However, cordons have since been lifted from all three premises in Hessle Road and Anlaby Road in Hull, and Beckside in Beverley.
At Press conference yesterday, Assistant Chief Constable Thom McLoughlin said the investigation was ‘at a critical point’ with more than 120 officers and police staff, some from other areas of the country, working on the case.
Deputy Chief Constable David Marshall said it was ‘an extremely complex and sensitive investigation with heartbroken families at the core of it’.