BEMIDJI, Minn. —The owners of a Bemidji funeral home started the year with an unpleasant surprise Monday, when they arrived at work to find that one of the hearses had been stolen.
Though police soon located the hearse — owned by the Cease Family Funeral Home — in Clearwater County, it had been burned down to the chassis.
The hearse was taken from the funeral home’s Bemidji location, according to Kevin Cease, who owns the business with his family. Cease said police were informed of the theft immediately and quickly found the burned-out vehicle.
“It wasn’t more than an hour later that they had found it burning in Clearwater County,” he said.
Officials with the Bemidji Police Department could not immediately be reached for comment, but Cease said that as far as he knows nobody has been arrested for the theft of the $35,000 vehicle. He said the thief gained access to the hearse by breaking the window of a locked van belonging to the funeral home and locating a garage door opener inside.
Cease said he and his family feel unsettled by the theft.
“It seems like a slam against funeral service and all the professional service that we provide to a family,” Cease said. “We care for the most vulnerable people and we’re honored to take care of them. To have our facility broken into seems like an extreme violation, and we’re really very upset.”