Rockford Man Charged With Theft Of Funeral Home Van, Corpse: Police

ROCKFORD, IL — Winnebago County Prosecutors have charged a 23-year-old Rockford man with the theft of a van belonging to a local funeral home that contained a body that was later located on Chicago’s South Side.

Deon Howard was not in police custody as of Wednesday, Rockford Police said, but prosecutors have authorized charges of possession of a stolen vehicle and abuse of a corpse, police said.

The van was reported stolen on Saturday night from Collins & Stone Funeral Home, where police said it had been parked outside. Rockford Police officials said Tuesday that the van was running and unlocked and contained the body of Rockford resident Curtis Brown, who died of natural causes last week, according to the county coroner’s office.

Police found the van on Sunday in the 1400 block of East 87th Street, but said that Brown’s body was not inside. On Monday, the Winnebago County Coroner’s Office said that Brown’s body was found outside a residence in the 8200 block of South Manistee Avenue in Chicago.

Brown’s body was returned to the coroner’s office on Monday, police said.

Rockford Police previously had issued surveillance photos of a man they believed to be a suspect in the theft of the van before charges against Howard were announced on Wednesday. Police are now asking anyone with information about the theft and or about Howard’s whereabouts to contact the Rockford Police Department at (815) 966-2900 or to contact police on the department’s Facebook page or Twitter feed.