Authorities in Andover, New Jersey, made a grisly discovery after receiving a tip that there was a body in a shed at one of the largest nursing homes in the state.
Police searched the premises at Andover Subacute and Rehab Center II, and while they did not find a body in the shed, they discovered the facility had 17 dead bodies in their morgue. Each of the bodies was in a bag and had a tag identifying the deceased individual. Officials do not believe there was foul play involved.
"The staff was clearly overwhelmed and probably short-staffed," Andover Police Chief Eric Danielson, one of the responding officers, told CNN. "The residents were expiring. Why? We're not sure if it's from COVID-19 or from other diseases, but we tried our best to ease the burden."
According to the New York Times, the facility's morgue can only hold four bodies at a time. The officers helped the employees move 13 of the bodies to a refrigerated trailer at Newton Medical Center. A funeral home made arrangements to pick up the four bodies that are still in the morgue at the nursing home.
Officials said that there have been 68 deaths linked to the facility and that 26 of those people died due to COVID-19. They did not release the cause of death for the other victims.
"It is by far, one of the most bodies at one time that I've experienced in terms of a nursing home. Based upon the pandemic and the numbers we saw coming out of the facility, I don't know if I'm necessarily shocked about that. It's an unfortunate situation altogether," Danielson said.
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