At a press conference on Friday, Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman announced that detectives found four bodies in or near the Gundel Funeral Home in Conestoga after families thought their loved ones had been cremated.
“This is staggerlingly reprehensible. It’s hard to conceive of something like this." Stedman said. "The family members of these people who passed away put their trust in him, they put their trust in the funeral home that their loved one will be taken care of with honor, with dignity, respect and empathy.”
The District Attorney confirmed to CBS 21 that 41-year-old Benjamin Siar, the operator of the funeral home, turned himself in to investigators Friday night.
He will be charged with four counts of abuse of a corpse and four counts of theft by deception. But the District Attorney says they are early in their investigation and more charges are expected. “Without question, this is going to get much bigger. Particularly in the financial realm. We hope that that’s the end of the bodies, but I can’t say that it is. We foresee a number of potential other victims.”
The four bodies found were those of 76-year-old Rosa Kleinhaus who died on December 20th, 97-year-old Elizabeth Zug who died December 26th, 71-year-old Sandra Hotchkiss who died January 21st and 2-year-old Ranasia Knight who was murdered on January 12th.
“It’s even more disturbing because funeral services took place and the family was provided with an urn – obviously her remains were not in that urn.” Stedman said.
He says there could be more people who have fallen victim to Siar, and if you believe you have, you’re asked to contact the District Attorney Office. “People who have not received their death certificates, we ask you to contact our office.”
CBS 21 News went to Siar’s home Friday night, to speak with his family, but they told me they had no comment and they ask that their family be left alone.
I also spoke with a cremation society who said the cost to cremate a body is around $400 on average. Siar charged $2,000 dollars for each cremation.
“This is staggerlingly reprehensible. It’s hard to conceive of something like this." Stedman said. "The family members of these people who passed away put their trust in him, they put their trust in the funeral home that their loved one will be taken care of with honor, with dignity, respect and empathy.”
The District Attorney confirmed to CBS 21 that 41-year-old Benjamin Siar, the operator of the funeral home, turned himself in to investigators Friday night.
He will be charged with four counts of abuse of a corpse and four counts of theft by deception. But the District Attorney says they are early in their investigation and more charges are expected. “Without question, this is going to get much bigger. Particularly in the financial realm. We hope that that’s the end of the bodies, but I can’t say that it is. We foresee a number of potential other victims.”
The four bodies found were those of 76-year-old Rosa Kleinhaus who died on December 20th, 97-year-old Elizabeth Zug who died December 26th, 71-year-old Sandra Hotchkiss who died January 21st and 2-year-old Ranasia Knight who was murdered on January 12th.
“It’s even more disturbing because funeral services took place and the family was provided with an urn – obviously her remains were not in that urn.” Stedman said.
He says there could be more people who have fallen victim to Siar, and if you believe you have, you’re asked to contact the District Attorney Office. “People who have not received their death certificates, we ask you to contact our office.”
CBS 21 News went to Siar’s home Friday night, to speak with his family, but they told me they had no comment and they ask that their family be left alone.
I also spoke with a cremation society who said the cost to cremate a body is around $400 on average. Siar charged $2,000 dollars for each cremation.