2,411 fetal remains from deceased abortion doctor’s clinics to be buried Wednesday

Some 2,400 fetal remains were discovered after Dr. Ulrich Klopfer died last year. Those remains are set to be buried Wednesday in South Bend, Ind. | WNDU-TV via Associated Press

The 2,411 fetal remains discovered last year in a Will County abortion doctor’s garage, as well as in the trunk of his car, are set to be buried Wednesday at an Indiana cemetery, according to Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill Jr.’s office.

The graveside service is planned for 1 p.m. at Southlawn Cemetery and Palmer Funeral Home, 61430 U.S. 31 South, in Sound Bend.

Of the remains, 2,246 fetuses were discovered by relatives going through Dr. Ulrich Klopfer’s possessions in his Crete Township home after he died Sept. 3, at age 79. In all, investigators retrieved 71 boxes of fetal remains from Klopfer’s garage. Later, 165 remains were found in the trunk of one of Klopfer’s vehicles, parked in a Dolton garage.

Klopfer had abortion clinics in Fort Wayne, Gary and South Bend. The Fort Wayne clinic closed in 2014; the other two closed in 2015.

Authorities have estimated Klopfer performed tens of thousands of abortions during a career that spanned decades. Hill at one point called Klopfer one of the most “notorious abortionists in the history of Indiana.”

Dr. Ulrich Klopfer performed abortions at this now-shuttered clinic in Gary, Indiana, where most of the sign is gone.

Investigators say they have been unable to identify the individual remains because they are in poor condition and Klopfer kept “unreliable records.” Although the remains were stored in plastic specimen bags, many of the bags have leaked over time, investigators say. The remains appear to be from Klopfer’s medical practice in Indiana from 2000 to 2003.

Investigators have said they don’t know why Klopfer kept the remains. Asked last year whether Klopfer’s widow had any inkling, family attorney Kevin Bolger told the Chicago Sun-Times: “Every room in the house, except hers, was floor-to-ceiling junk. ... You couldn’t see out the windows.”

Indiana took custody of the fetal remains because it’s believed all the abortions were performed at Klopfer’s clinics in that state.

The home in Will County’s Crete Township where Dr. Ulrich Klopfer, who died Sept. 3, kept thousands of preserved fetuses.