Decomposing bodies, open containers of cremated remains found in garage of unlicensed New York funeral home, police say

• A New York funeral home is under investigation after police found decomposing bodies in its garage.
• Johnstown police said the funeral home was not licensed.

Police in upstate New York said they found decomposing bodies and open containers of cremated remains in the garage of an unlicensed funeral home.

In a Sunday statement, Johnstown Police Department said they executed a search warrant of Ehle-Barnett Funeral Home on Friday following a complaint from a family who was unable to contact the firm's owner for weeks after paying for cremation services.

The police said they found two neglected corpses and a dozen containers of cremated remains in the rear garage of the funeral home.

Both bodies were "in advanced states of decomposition," and some of the containers were left open and untagged, the police said. Another decomposing body was found in the front of the funeral home, the police said.

"The remains were not stored in a temperature-controlled location and were not cared for in any matter," police said. "Detectives noted excess furniture and household items stored around the remains."

The owner of the funeral home, Brian Barnett, had his funeral-director license suspended in late November, police said, adding that Ehle-Barnett Funeral Home home was also "not a licensed funeral firm." It is unclear why.

According to the funeral home's Facebook page, it has been operating since 1860 and was taken over by Barnett, the son of a reverend, in 2014.

Barnett eventually reached out to the police to say he still had the remains of the body that the family wanted to contact him about, the police said.

The Fulton County Coroner's Office said it would handle the process of identifying the bodies and will contact families once an identity has been made.

The funeral home did not immediately respond to comment when contacted by Insider. The police said the investigation was ongoing and that there were no charges yet.