Mountain Of Corpses: 17 Bodies Found Crammed Inside NJ Nursing Home Morgue

Investigations are underway after authorities discovered a morbid scene inside a morgue of one of New Jersey's largest nursing homes.

An anonymous tip led Andover Township Police Department officers to respond and investigate the Andover Subacute and Rehabilitation Center Monday following the report of “improper storage of corpses,” said the New York Post.

The tip told police that a corpse was being improperly stored inside a shed outside the nursing home. Police who arrived at the facility told The Week the body was nowhere to be found, but further investigation led them to 17 corpses stuffed inside the nursing home's four-body morgue.

The 17 bodies were among the 68 recent deaths linked to the Andover Subacute and Rehabilitation Center I and II. Also included in the discovery are two nurses, while 26 of those who died had tested positive for COVID-19, said the New York Times.

“They were just overwhelmed by the number of people who were expiring,” said Andover Township Police Department chief Eric Danielson, through the Post.

Notwithstanding the grim discovery, Danielson's station and the Sussex County Sheriff's Office were bombarded by complaints over the weekend. The nursing home's staff, as well as family members of the residents have been nagging the facility's administration on the lack of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), infection control and the transparency regarding the number of people infected by, or have died from, COVID-19.

To ease the burden of the staff, Sussex County Sheriff Michael Strada provided the facility with PPEs which they had received from the state at the county level.

At the same time, Danielson said that the Newton and Lakeland First Aid Squad were required to decontaminate onsite after they helped transport the bodies to Newton Medical Center, said the New Jersey Herald.

The state's long-term care facilities have been riddled with the virus, most of which were reported to have at least one case of COVID-19. A total of 6,815 patients have contracted the illness as of Wednesday, and at least 45 COVID-19-related deaths allegedly came from a nursing home, according to The Week.

Both Andover Centers meanwhile have 76 patients who have tested positive for the virus. A total of 41 employees and one administrator are also sick, said the Times, citing county health records.