A 23-year-old Rockford man has been charged with abuse of a corpse for stealing a funeral home van containing a body that was later dumped in Chicago, authorities said Wednesday.
The man, who remained at large Wednesday, also faces a charge of unlawful possession of a stolen vehicle.
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The van belonging to Collins & Stone Funeral Home was stolen from outside the Rockford business Saturday. Chicago police found it Sunday without the body inside.
The body of 47-year-old Curtis Brown that had been in the van was recovered Monday evening behind a vacant home on Chicago’s South Side, Rockford police said.
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Brown’s body was returned to Rockford by the Winnebago County Coroner’s Office.
Brown’s family has been notified of the incident and has been working with an out-of-state funeral home to have the body returned to his family in Mississippi, Winnebago County Coroner Jennifer Muraski said.
