Funeral director has license revoked; bodies found in garage
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A Philadelphia funeral director who was arrested and charged after three decomposing bodies were found in her garage has had her license revoked.
The state Board of Funeral Directors announced Tuesday that Janet Powell Dailey's funeral director and supervisor licenses have been revoked, as was the license for her business Powell Mortuary Services.
The board said in its decision that Dailey "failed to fulfill one of the most fundamental responsibilities that a licensee has, to treat the deceased with dignity and respect."
Police were called in August to the garage adjacent to Powell Funeral Home after neighbors investigating a foul odor stumbled upon the bodies. One was in a coffin and two others were in cardboard body boxes.
Investigators say the three bodies were left in the hot, dingy garage for an extended period of time after being dropped off by a nursing home to the funeral home around the corner.
Among the bodies was 84-year-old Albert Andrews.
His family says Andrews died of dementia a month earlier. They thought he'd been cremated a day after he passed, but that apparently wasn't the case.
One of Andrews' daughters, Theresa Pearson, tells Action News she and her family learned of the improper handling of her father's body through media reports.
They called Powell Dailey, who allegedly told them Andrews had been cremated.
But when the family repeatedly contacted Ivy Hill Cemetery, where he was supposed to be interred, the cemetery said Powell Dailey never delivered his remains.
"She said I want you to know I did nothing wrong. She said it's the media coming after poor, black businesses," said Pearson.
Andrews is now laid to rest in an historic cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland, where Pearson lives.
Powell Dailey is now in police custody.
"I don't want her to have the opportunity to do this kind of thing to any other families because it really hurt us," said Pearson.
---
Information from The Associated Press was used in this post.
