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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Freya Coombes & Liam Buckler

Haunting images show long-abandoned funeral home which lost its licence after snatching body

Haunting images show a long-abandoned funeral home which lost its licence three decades ago after a body was snatched from the home.

Chelsey Lacelle, 25, a paranormal investigator and photographer, explored a town in Pennsylvania and stumbled upon the abandoned site.

The former funeral home has a haunting history behind it as sometimes the home would mix-up animal and human remains.

And a body was also snatched from the site after it was decomposing in a garage at the funeral home.

In the images taken by Chelsey, chairs are seen lined up in front of a coffin, waiting for a funeral service. A coffin also has fake flowers spread across and a polaroid on top of the lid with information about the deceased.

The coffin was left untouched (Mediadrumworld/@laceydecay)
Beauty products to dress up the deceased (Mediadrumworld/@laceydecay)

After discovering the eerily site, Chelsey said: "This place had been sitting abandoned for the last thirty years.

"This funeral home was a small business run by one undertaker who skipped out of town after not paying his bills on the property and losing his licence for the funeral home.

"He lost his licence because he had a body that was decomposing in his garage at the funeral home and had not properly taken care of the body.

Vintage curtains remain, separating a filing room from the main part of the funeral home. (Mediadrumworld/@laceydecay)
Documents were littered everywhere (Mediadrumworld/@laceydecay)

"It's said that when this was reported, he left in a van and was gone, along with that body.

"He tried to bury that body, but was rejected because the death certificate was not signed.

"He had also left behind at least twenty remains of humans and pets. He even admitted that sometimes he would mix the animal and human remains."

Funeral arrangements papers are left behind (Mediadrumworld/@laceydecay)
Chairs were left in place for a service (Mediadrumworld/@laceydecay)

In one image, embalming fluids are left set out on a workbench as the property is littered with tools, papers, and beauty products for dressing up the bodies for viewings.

Among the abandoned documents were orders of service and coffin catalogues.

In some images, there is extensive water damage which has damaged documents belonging to the decease.

Embalming fluids and tools were left out (Mediadrumworld/@laceydecay)
Catalogues for the families of the deceased are left behind (Mediadrumworld/@laceydecay)

Chelsey said the outside of the funeral home was obscured from view, with a large tree and several weeds covering the exterior of the building.

In order to find abandoned places with such history, Chelsey undergoes hours of research and explores quiet towns and cities.

She said: "You are driving around and your drive in the back areas to find places like these."

The outside of the funeral home was obscured from view on all but one side (Mediadrumworld/@laceydecay)
Chairs were found set up and containing orders of service with details of the deceased (Mediadrumworld/@laceydecay)

"Sometimes it can be a forty minute drive and other times it's a twenty-plus hours type of drive.

"I grew up on horror movies and I was just drawn to the unknown - this is a side of the world that not a whole bunch of people get to experience on a day to day basis.

"My photos aren't for everyone, they hold a moody and creepy aspect to them, but they also show the beauty and the history of forgotten places."

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