Jacksonville funeral home owners surrender after warrants issued

Arkansas Funeral Care co-owners Rodney Wood, 61, left, and LeRoy Wood, 86, are shown in these photographs released by the Jacksonville Police Department.
Arkansas Funeral Care co-owners Rodney Wood, 61, left, and LeRoy Wood, 86, are shown in these photographs released by the Jacksonville Police Department.

The father and son owners of a Jacksonville funeral home shut down earlier this year for violations of state regulations surrendered to authorities Tuesday, a day after arrest warrants were issued for them and the facility's general manager on corpse abuse charges.

Arrest reports released by the Jacksonville Police Department show LeRoy Wood, 86, and Rodney Wood, 61, who co-owned Arkansas Funeral Care, turned themselves in shortly after 8:45 a.m. at a Jacksonville District Court booking area.

A police spokesman said the two men went in front of a district judge Tuesday morning and were released on their own recognizance.

Investigators said they found a cooler at the funeral home filled beyond capacity with bodies. Other bodies that hadn't been embalmed were reportedly kept in an area where they were not properly cooled.

A complaint prompted an investigation in January and the funeral home surrendered its license that month.

LeRoy Wood was funeral director and part owner while Rod Wood was part owner in charge of finances, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported Tuesday.

Former general manager of day-to-day operations Edward Snow, meanwhile, was arrested Monday and booked into the Pulaski County jail. He was no longer listed as an inmate there Tuesday.

All three men face 13 counts of abuse of a corpse. LeRoy and Rodney Woods are each due in court June 24. Snow is set to appear in court June 25.

See Wednesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full coverage.

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