A disturbing discovery near Hatfield Electronics on Lapsley Street had the business owner, Jerry Hatfield, asking a lot of questions Monday.

When he checked a brush pile behind his store Monday morning, Hatfield discovered crates used to transport human remains from Lewis Brothers Funeral Home mixed in with limbs, leaves and other debris.

The crates included warning tags that documented human remains had been placed inside — some even had specific names still plainly visible on the boxes.

Hatfield, who was noticeably disturbed when he looked over the pile, said he does not understand why the crates ended up behind his store. The store is located at 1014 Lapsley St., while the funeral home is at 1140 Minter Ave.

“The city won’t pick up certain things, and they shouldn’t pick up some things, so I was out there digging through the trash pile to see what it was,” he said. “I happened to notice it said ‘human remains’ on the box and started looking and noticed it was the crates they ship people in. It was the foam, the straps they hold them down with, and it even said the names of the deceased on the box.”

The fact that any trash would be dumped near his property is disheartening, Hatfield said. The fact that items like body crates were left was totally shocking.