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12 Bodies Found In Weymouth Storage Unit Tied To Former Funeral Home Director

WEYMOUTH (CBS) - The remains of 12 people have been discovered in a storage unit in Weymouth.

The District Attorney's office says the discovery came as part of an investigation into former Dorchester funeral home director Joseph O'Donnell of Mattapan. He ran O'Donnell and Mulry Funeral Home on Neponset Avenue in Dorchester, but he lost his license back in 2008.

Foul play is not suspected in the deaths of the people, but officials are concerned about why the bodies were there. Investigators also removed caskets and boxes from the storage unit.

In addition to Thursday's discovery, officials say they found cremated remains in a storage facility in Somerville on Wednesday.

"Our top priority right now is determining the identity of the remains we've discovered," Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley said in a statement. "We've seized records and documents that could help us locate those people's families, but this will be a time- and labor-intensive task."

Back in April, O'Donnell was criminally charged for allegedly working without a license and misusing more than $12,000 in pre-paid funeral fees. O'Donnell is currently being held on $10,000 cash bail in that case. He goes before a judge on Friday.

Joseph O'Donnell
Joseph O'Donnell (Photo credit: Suffolk DA)

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