Police: Arrest made in theft of funeral van containing body

Bruce Kropp

Mar 21, 2023 | 2:14 PM

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Authorities in Wisconsin have arrested a man in connection with the theft last January of a funeral home van containing a body, saying he faces charges of abuse of a corpse and unlawful possession of a stolen vehicle.

The van belonging to Collins & Stone Funeral Home in Rockford, Illinois, was stolen from that location on Jan. 21, and found behind a vacant Chicago home on Jan. 23 with the body inside, officials have said.

The 23-year-old man was arrested Sunday in Green Bay. He had been charged in late January but had been at large. WLS-TV quotes Rockford police as saying police in Wisconsin took the man into custody after a traffic stop.

The body of a 47-year-old man that had been in the van was recovered Jan. 23 behind a vacant home on Chicago’s South Side, Rockford police have said. The body was returned to Rockford by a coroner’s office.