Stolen Hearse Still Had The Corpse Inside — But This Family Wouldn’t Let Them Get Away

Losing a relative during the holidays can be hard, but it’s even worse to have to lose them all over again. That’s what one South Los Angeles family found out Saturday when a thief decided that his next carjacking target would be a hearse. Not enough information has been released to confirm whether or not the man who took the vehicle was aware of the fact that the hearse was still carrying its cargo, reported The Los Angeles Times.

This makes me question humanity. http://t.co/Ue3EFqm3md”

— Jenny (@MissJenny9) December 29, 2014

Funeral director Kenneth Little thought it would be fine to leave the hearse running outside of Ebenezer Baptist Church while he was putting together a floral arrangement for the funeral 19-year-old Jonté Lee Reed. His wife, Shirley Little, told L.A. Times that when he came back outside, there was no hearse to be found. Terrified and consumed with guilt, he called in a group of locals to aid him in getting the stolen hearse back to the church on time for the funeral.

Thankfully, Little didn’t try to hide the fact that their son had been stolen from the family. As they were only a few blocks away, they saw the hearse crossing 52nd and Main streets. In a rage, they forced to stolen hearse to pull over and demanded that the driver return their son to them. The Los Angeles Police Department said that the man may have been mentally ill, an evaluation that they would be carrying out along with a charge for auto theft, reported KTLA 5.

Despite all of the stolen hearse drama, Little’s wife assured that the funeral still managed to run pretty smoothly. Still, that’s not to say the church was ready to deal with the situation by any means. Nothing of the sort had occurred during its more than 75 year history.

“Even with all of that occurring, the service for this gentleman was only 30 minutes late and it was nice… This is truly one for the books.”

Even though the events sounds like some kind of freak accident, it’s not really that uncommon for hearses to be stolen — even with the body still inside. Less than a month ago, a hearse was also stolen in Australia, reported The Mirror. The thief, again, seemed to suffer from mental health issues and was not maliciously trying to cause the mourners harm. The family said that their deceased family member “probably would have seen the humor in the situation.”

[Image via Flickr]