GREEN BAY, Wis. — A man who allegedly stole an Illinois funeral home van that was transporting a body in January was arrested last weekend in Wisconsin after a traffic stop.
Deon Howard, 23, was arrested Sunday morning after a traffic stop, according to WLS-TV. Howard has been charged with unlawful possession of a stolen vehicle and abuse of a corpse.
The van was found the next day in Chicago without the body, according to WMAQ. The body of Curtis Brown 47, who had died earlier in January at a hospital, was found behind a vacant house WLS-TV reported. The coroner’s office said Brown died of natural causes.
On Jan. 21, a van from the Collins & Stone Funeral Home in Rockport, Illinois, was stolen with a body inside, according to The Associated Press.
[ Van stolen from funeral home in Illinois with body inside ]
Brown’s body was turned over to the Collins & Stone funeral home but that van was later reported stolen with the body inside, according to the news outlet. The body was in a black bag, not a coffin.
Once Brown’s body was located, it was returned to Rockford by a coroner’s office, WMAQ reported.