Body Stolen After Funeral Home Van Left Unlocked, Running: Rockford PD

ROCKFORD, IL — The director of the Rockford funeral home where a van containing the body of a deceased 47-year-old man was stolen had been cited for 13 complaints in the past 14 years, according to state records.

Police are still working to find a suspect who authorities said stole a van belonging to Collins & Stone Funeral Home on Saturday. The van was recovered a day later on the South Side of Chicago, but the body of 47-year-old Curtis Brown, of Rockford, was no longer inside.

Police have released video images of the suspect they believe was involved in the theft.

Rockford Police Chief Carla Redd told reporters on Tuesday that the van had been left unlocked and running when it was stolen from outside the funeral home on Saturday. Police found the missing van on Chicago’s South Side on Sunday and announced on Monday that Brown’s body was found outside a home in the area on Monday.

Redd addressed the situation at a news conference on Tuesday to discuss Rockford’s crime statistics for the past year, which included auto thefts.

“It just so happened this (vehicle) had a body in it,” Redd told reporters at the news conference. “My heart goes out to the family, as I know they were recently notified of what had transpired, and I hope we never have to see anything like this again.”

Matthew Lane, the Winnebago County deputy coroner, said on Tuesday that Brown died of natural causes last week. The man’s body was turned over to Collins & Stone Funeral Home after it was released by the hospital. Lane said that after Brown's body had been turned over to the custody of the funeral home, the van containing it was stolen after it was parked in front of the funeral home.

Funeral director Brandy Collins has been hit with 13 licensing complaints over the years, according to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Collins has been put on probation by the licensing department and fined $10,000 for repeated complaints of unprofessional conduct, records show. She is currently on probation, according to records.

Collins has been a licensed funeral director since 2002 and all 13 complaints were filed with the state since 2009, records show.

Complaints include failing to file death certificates in a timely fashion, failure to provide proper documentation after receiving payment of a deposit, and violations of regulation and unprofessional behavior.

Collins is scheduled to come off probation on March 28. She was previously suspended in 2017 for repeated offenses of not filing death certificates in a timely manner.