Texas woman’s body stolen hours after funeral

Texas police are searching for the remains of 25-year-old Julie Mott after her body was stolen from a San Antonio funeral home just hours after friends and family gathered to say goodbye.

“We just want our daughter’s remains returned so that we can have some closure to our grief,” dad Tim Mott said in a public plea on Friday, KSAT reports. Julie died earlier this month from cystic fibrosis complications.

Sgt. Javier Salazar said they believe Julie’s body was taken on Saturday, August 15, between the end of her funeral service ended and when the funeral locked up: a three-hour window of 1:30 to about 4:30. There were no signs of forced entry and police did not indicate that they have a lead.

Dick Tips, the owner of the funeral home and longtime friend to the Mott family, said he is in disbelief. He speculated the only reason he can think someone may have taken Julie’s remains is because they disagreed with the family’s plans for her body.

“We think it is possible that the fact that someone didn’t believe in the cremation process, versus the traditional burial process,” he said.

The funeral home is offering a $20,000 reward to anyone who has information that leads to an arrest.

The case is being investigated as “abuse of a corpse,” a Class A misdemeanor, which is only punishable by a $4,000 fine and up to one year in jail. Police did say that more charges are possible.