POCATELLO — The approximately 50 fetuses recovered from Downard Funeral home last week were part of a biological collection Idaho State University provided to the funeral home for cremation in 2017, Pocatello police and university officials said Thursday.

ISU in a Thursday news release announced the discovery of the biological collection of fetuses that was turned over to Downard Funeral Home to cremate over four years ago. The collection was apparently never cremated as agreed upon. Furthermore, Pocatello police issued a news release asking for the public’s help in identifying the bodies of six people recovered from the funeral home as part of their ongoing investigation into the business.

Additionally, the Idaho State Journal on Thursday spoke to another Pocatello funeral home owner who says he, too, is assisting families affected by the situation involving Downard Funeral Home free of charge.

“The fetuses recovered last week from Downard Funeral Home have been positively identified as remains that were donated to ISU for educational purposes as part of a decades-old biology collection showing fetal development,” ISU spokesperson Stuart Summers said in a Thursday news release. “This collection was transferred to Downard Funeral Home for cremation in April 2017.”

The biological collection originally consisted of 61 specimens contained within glass jars that depicted the various stages of fetal development, Summers said. Pocatello police recovered approximately 50 of the 61 specimens, of which some contained what appeared to be placentas and most contained actual fetuses, Pocatello police said.

An employee from Downard Funeral Home collected the 61 specimens from ISU on April 10, 2017, said Summers, adding that after the remains were transferred to Downard Funeral Home for cremation the school never received an invoice from the funeral home and had no reason to believe the cremations had not taken place as was previously arranged.

ISU first learned the collection was not destroyed on Thursday as part of the ongoing Pocatello police investigation into the funeral home and its director Lance Peck.

Authorities launched the investigation into “suspicious circumstances” at Downard, located at 241 N. Garfield Ave., on Sept. 2 following a visit from state inspectors the day prior. Pocatello police said Peck, who co-owns Downard with his wife, has voluntarily surrendered his licenses to operate the funeral home, causing the closure of the business until further notice.

In addition to the approximately 50 human fetuses, at least 12 decomposing bodies were found in Downard last week after the Pocatello Police Department launched its investigation.

Six of the 12 bodies have been identified.

ISU provided the biological collection of fetuses and other specimens to Downard after the Idaho Legislature in 2016 passed the Idaho Unborn Infants Dignity Act, which prohibited public institutions from using unborn infant remains or embryonic stem cells for research or study.

“After determining the biology collection likely fell under the purview of the new law prohibiting its educational use, ISU reached out to Downard Funeral Home for assistance with cremation and final disposition, as allowed by law,” Summers said. “In April 2017, Downard Funeral Home picked up the collection containing 61 fetuses, the majority of which were donated to ISU prior to 1981 and did not contain any new donations beyond 1998.”

Summers said ISU’s relationship with Downard ended in May 2020. The university conducted an internal audit last fall of all records and dealings with Downard, which indicated multiple causes for concern.

ISU filed formal complaints with the Bannock County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, the Pocatello Police Department and the Idaho Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses.

“At no time during the university’s internal audit was it discovered that the fetal remains were never cremated,” Summers said. “ISU has been proactive and cooperative in ongoing discussions with state agencies and local law enforcement.”

The descriptions of the six individuals Pocatello police are asking for the public’s help in identifying can be found online by visiting the following case-sensitive link: bit.ly/2X6rUS2. Pocatello police said the descriptions are not listed in numerical order and are arranged specifically for internal tracking purposes within the police department.

Since the investigation into Downard began last week, Pocatello police have received hundreds of calls from community members concerned about the status of their deceased loved ones. Earlier this week, Wilks Funeral Home took in four of the bodies found at Downard and agreed to personally cover the expenses of the funeral services it provided to their families.

Another local funeral home, Manning-Wheatley Funeral Home in Pocatello, has helped at least three more families affected by the situation at Downard and plans to help more who already paid for services that the now-shuttered funeral home won’t be able to provide.

Tyler Wheatley, owner and funeral director at Manning-Wheatley, said Thursday he has taken in one body from Downard and provided funeral services at no charge to that individual’s family.

Manning-Wheatley has also offered to help two families locate their loved ones. Wheatley said he successfully located one victim, whose ashes the family never received after Downard sent them elsewhere to be cremated, and is in the process of helping another family do the same.

While Wheatley said he was challenged by limited refrigeration space to take in more victims at the investigation’s onset, he is willing and able to help more families as bodies continue to be identified by the police and turned over to local funeral homes.

When Wheatley heard about the investigation last Friday, he went over to Downard to help detectives and the coroner’s office in any way he could. He said he couldn’t believe what he was seeing there.

“I was shocked. I was so surprised. I’ve known Lance over the years, just as I’ve gotten to know other funeral directors in town,” he said. “I didn’t know for sure what was happening until more information started to come out, but I was quite shocked.”

Wheatley said he wishes Peck would have reached out to him or other funeral directors in the area to ask for help if he needed it.

In his efforts to help the families whose loved ones were not given proper care at Downard, Wheatley has offered to cover the cost of services for others who already paid Downard.

“I don’t ever want the families to be charged double,” Wheatley said. “We will honor their contracts. If they’ve already paid Downard for certain services, I don’t want to them to pay again for the already agreed-upon services that they won’t be receiving from Downard.”

Manning-Wheatley is a full service, family-owned funeral home in Pocatello that has been in business since 1953. Wheatley, who operates the business now with his wife, Stephanie, bought the company from his parents in January 2020.

“I’m trying to put myself in their shoes,” Wheatley said of the victims’ families. “There’s a lot of mystery surrounding this right now and if this was my loved one I’d want to know what happened to them and I’d want to know where they’re at. I’m just trying to help these families find some closure, find some peace and put their loved ones to rest.”

Wheatley is urging anyone who has been impacted by the debacle at Downard and had pre-arranged contracts there to call Manning-Wheatley Funeral Home at 208-232-7199.