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One of the fetuses bore a tag from Methodist Hospital that
identified it as male, the funeral home said. The gender of the
other fetus, which was in the 24th to 26th week of gestation, is
unknown, Lake County Coroner Merrilee Frey said.
The fetuses had been stored in the home's morgue since the late
1990s and were placed in the ceiling of the morgue in September
by an employee who was later dismissed, said Sean Howard, a
spokesman for the Smith, Bizzell & Warner Funeral Home in Gary,
in northwest Indiana.
The funeral home, which has been around for 90 years, was
purchased by its current owner in 2005.
Coronor's office investigator Scott Sefton said a pathologist
would examine the fetuses on Thursday.
"The bottom line is we are working together with the funeral
home to give dignity and respect to these individuals so they
can get a proper burial. This office is going to start the
process of trying to find out where or who are the parents,"
Sefton said.
(Reporting by Fiona Ortiz in Chicago)
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