Body of Uvalde Shooter Went Unclaimed Nearly a Month

The body of the Uvalde, Texas, school shooter went unclaimed for almost a month after area funeral homes refused to accept it, and his family argued over what to do with his remains, the Daily Mail reported on Wednesday.

Eventually, his corpse was cremated more than 80 miles away in San Antonio 3½ weeks after the massacre.

Salvador Ramos murdered 19 children and two teachers on May 24 at Robb Elementary School. After the massacre, Uvalde’s two funeral homes were busy arranging the funerals of Ramos' victim and were not interested in dealing with his body.

Taylor Michelle Massey, managing funeral director at Uvalde's Rushing-Estes-Knowles, told the Houston Chronicle that "all of our staff grew up in Uvalde County and attended school in Uvalde County and believe that everyone deserves a dignified and respectful funeral service. However, in the weeks following the shootings of May 24, we were caring for 17 families through what is probably the most difficult time in their lives."

Massey said that "under the circumstance, we did not feel it would be appropriate or in the best interest of the families for which we were caring to take custody of the remains of the individual that caused their pain."

Eulalio "Lalo" Diaz Jr., a Uvalde County justice of the peace who is also the de facto coroner, told the Houston Chronicle that he tried to find a way of disposing the body after the medical examiner performed the autopsy and the local funeral homes refused to deal with Ramos’ remains.

Complicating matters further was that Ramos' relatives were fighting with each other over arrangements for the body, according to the Daily Mail.

Diaz found ind a morgue some 165 miles away in Lockhart that was willing to store the body until it was transferred to be cremated, the Houston Chronicle reported.

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