1 of 3 accused in El Paso corpse abuse indicted

One of three people facing charges in a case involving corpse abuse has been indicted.

The El Paso Times reports that Mortuary Services Inc. owner Joseph Anthony Solis has been indicted on 42 counts of tampering with government records and 37 counts of forging government records.

The 54-year-old mortician remained Saturday in the El Paso County Jail on bonds totaling $245,000.

The investigation began in Augustafter forged documents from Portland, Oregon, were found with an El Paso County official’s signature.

Solis is accused of illegally storing bodies at El Paso Mission Funeral Home where authorities found the decomposing remains of five people, including a fetus. They also found cremated remains that dated to 2009.

Solis allegedly forged documents to take bodies out-of-state and across the border into Mexico.