Unlicensed New York funeral home director arrested after bodies found in advance stages of decomposition: police

A New York funeral director accused of improperly storing and treating human remains has turned himself in to authorities.

This month, Brian Barnett was arrested in Johnstown and charged with multiple crimes, including three counts each of concealment of a human corpse and failing to bury a body within a reasonable amount of time, as well as grand larceny, and endangering the welfare of a child.

Barnett, the 35-year-old owner of Ehle and Barnett Funeral Home, allegedly was acting as a funeral director and operating the business without valid licenses, authorities said.

Albany television station WTEN reported the funeral home’s registration lapsed last summer and Barnett’s license to practice was suspended in November.

The Johnstown Police Department began investigating Barnett in January after a family complained they were unable to get ahold of him after purchasing cremation services from his funeral home.

Police executing a search warrant on the property shorlty after allegedly found 18 cremated remain containers, some of which had no visible identification and other that were opened.

According to police, investigators also discovered four bodies that were not stored in the proper temperatures or locations and were in advance stages of decomposition, The Daily Gazette reported.