POCATELLO, Idaho (CBS2) — The owner and director of a Pocatello funeral home where dozens of bodies and remains were found last year has been charged.
The Bannock County Prosecutor's office on Tuesday said Lance Peck has been charged with 63 misdemeanors related to the case. The majority of the charges (59 of them) are for misdemeanor violation of mortician's code of conduct.
Peck, who is the owner and director of Downard Funeral Home, is expected to be arraigned later this week.
The timing for filing these misdemeanor charges was driven by Idaho’s statute of limitations, which requires misdemeanor charges to be filed within one year after the date of the offense. The deadline to file misdemeanor charges is Sept. 1, 2022, one year after the investigation.
The Bannock County Prosecutor’s Office expects additional charges to be filed in the future.
“In all my years, I have never seen a case so disturbing as this one. Our hearts go out to the family members affected by this tragic event, to the community, and to all the officers involved,” said Pocatello Police Chief Roger Schei.
There are 88 deceased persons who have been the subject of the investigation.
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