JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Death with dignity. That is supposed to extend to those buried by the city of Jacksonville.
By law, the city has to bury or cremate those who don't have the money or means for a burial. Last year, there were over 371 cremation and funerals in Jacksonville. Over that time, the services have been administered by Eternity Funeral Home.
Channel 4 began investigation these burials after receiving an anonymous letter saying, "Can it be explained why a funeral home with a contract to take care of deceased indigent people is allowed to store their dead bodies in a portable storage unit?"
Staff at Eternity Funeral Home told us they could not talk about the situation because they had a contract with the city and it's a city issue. Through an open gate, we could see a storage unit is in the back out in the open. From one side cooling fans were visible.
Channel 4 obtained a copy of the city's five-year, $414,426 contract with Eternity. It required the funeral home to follow state guidelines and pass inspections.
Those guidelines say: "There shall be either a refrigerated room for the storage of dead human bodies or written arrangements for the refrigeration and storage of dead human bodies."
No one with the city could supply us with any written arrangements with the state for outside storage.
Channel 4 checked all the inspections report done by the state investigators and Eternity passed all with out any problems
We did find one issue with a city document. In the contract for indigent burials it says: "The dead human body shall be maintained under the control of the contractor in a secure, sanitary and dignified matter."
So that is the question: Is storing a body outside in a storage unit dignified and is it secure?
Channel 4 returned to Eternity Funeral Home several weeks later and noticed things have changed. A new fence was put up around the property and the gate leading to the storage unit was closed.
The head of Behavioral and Human services, the city department that issued the contract for the funeral services about the changes, issued this statement:
"It is our understanding that the storage cooler unit at Eternity Funeral Home has always been locked. According to Johnnetta Moore, (Behavioral and Human Services Division), the owner of the funeral home put up a privacy fence on the perimeter of his property. This has no relation to the storage cooler. As stated before, this facility has passed all state regulations."
Eventually Channel 4 did talk with the owner of Eternity, Rex Gill. He confirmed they do store some bodies outside in the units, not just those from the city program, but their other clients as well. Gill said since they began the contract with the city, their business has increased. While they have a refrigerated storage room inside, sometimes it's not big enough for the number of bodies they receive. Gill says they plan to expand nearby and add permanent refrigerated rooms.
We also talked with the funeral home that had the contract prior to Eternity. A.B, Coleman told us they also stored bodies in an outside cooler. They were ordered by the city to remove it because it was against code.
Coleman says he made major changes to his business by adding an inside unit but then lost the contract to Eternity.
State inspectors didn't want to talk about their findings, just referred us to inspection reports, which all indicate Eternity passed.
