Body stolen from cemetery found in son's freezer

DETROIT -- Police on Tuesday found the body of a 93-year-old man stolen by his son from a cemetery with plans to resurrect him through prayer.

The body of Clarence Bright, which was stolen along with the casket on Monday, was found stuffed in a new freezer in the 48-year-old son's basement, according to a Detroit police source.

The younger man reportedly told family members that he stole his father's body from Gethsemane Cemetery on the city's east side early Monday to resurrect him through prayer, the source said.

The man's funeral was Saturday, but his body was being held in the cemetery's mausoleum because the ground was too wet for burial, according to investigators.

Witnesses saw a white van pull up outside the mausoleum just before the man and his casket went missing Monday.

A woman who identified herself as the office manager of Gethsemane Cemetery told the Free Press Monday that she could not comment.

Investigators searched the son's home Monday but did not find the man nor the missing body and casket. The new freezer was empty in the backyard Monday, the source said.

Early Tuesday, a Detroit Police officer on patrol spotted the van at a gas station on the city's east side, with the son and another man inside, along with the empty casket. The men were taken into custody.

When police returned to the man's home, they found the body, Detroit Police Sgt. Eren Stephens said.