POLK COUNTY, FL -- A funeral home owner was arrested Monday evening after a maintenance worker discovered a "suspicious bag" at a cemetary earlier in the day.
The bag, found at the Oakland Cemetary in Haines City, contained human organs.
Detectives say 47-year-old Claude Edward Holmes, Jr. admitted to burying the bag between two grave vaults. They say he also admitted to commiting similar acts at the same cemetary "10 - 15 times" since 2000.
The worker came across the partially buried bag Monday morning. He alerted a supervisor who pulled the biohazard bag from the ground, which had a strong odor of decomposition.
It was determined the bag contained human internal organs from an autopsy.
Polk County detectives say the remains were those of Robert Donaldson, who died on June 7. Holmes Funeral Directors in Haines City, had conducted funeral arrangements for Donaldson.
Holmes was confronted with the evidence at his business, and admitted to burying the remains on June 9.
Holmes, who has an extensive criminal record, is charged with Dumping Raw Human Waste for Commercial Purposes, Violation of Probation and Resisting without Violence.
