Questions asked about fmr. funeral dir. in embalmed baby case

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - As a Marion County grand jury investigates the death of a baby whose body was found in a dumpster 24-Hour News 8 is learning new details about who prosecutors have been interviewing.

24-Hour News 8 has learned that prosecutors have spoken to the owners of a building that once housed a business run by a funeral director who has now lost his license.

That building now sits empty near the corner of 23rd and Meridian streets.

At one time, funeral director Marvin Boatright was trying to set up a business there - even with a suspended license.

Regulators suspended Boatright's license in 2008 for cremating a body against a family's wishes and for charging for services already covered in a funeral contract.

The building at 2330 North Meridian where Boatright had been working is right next to a dumpster where the embalmed body of a baby was discovered last October.

24-Hour News 8 spoke with one of the owners of the building and when asked about Boatright's time there, she said she and her husband have given information about that to prosecutors.

The discovery of the baby's body last October was a shock.

The news this week that the child's body had been embalmed, a sign someone from the funeral industry may have been involved has that industry especially concerned.

"It's just plain wrong,” said Curtis Rostad, the executive director of the Indiana Funeral Directors Association.

Rostad said the disposal of a baby's embalmed body in a dumpster violates the two chief principles of the funeral industry: respect for the dead, and compassion for the living.

"And if a funeral director was involved either knowingly or unknowingly, it's obviously not acceptable. There's no circumstances under which we can say that this is an acceptable way to dispose of a human being,” said Rostad.

Rostad went on to say most funeral directors love their profession, and, "it hurts when we see something like this."