Funeral home director arrested in civil matter

Saturday, October 25, 2008 | 6:44 p.m. CDT

 COLUMBIA — The director of Warren Funeral Chapel, which is under investigation for its of handling bodies, was jailed over payment of child support.

Court records show that Harold Warren Jr., 48, is $6,100 behind in payments to  ex-wife Alisa Warren, for support of the couple's three children. He also owes money on other terms in the couple's 2006 divorce in 13th Circuit Court.

Harold Warren Jr. was the funeral director at Warren Funeral Chapel, succeeding his father in that position in February. The business, which operated in Columbia and Fulton, closed in late July after state inspectors reportedly found a decaying woman's body stored in an electrical room for 10 months without having been embalmed or refrigerated.

Seven more decaying bodies were found a week later. Several families have said that cremated ashes they received were not the remains of their loved ones or that bodies were embalmed rather than cremated, as required by contract.

The Missouri attorney general's office has sued the business.

Boone County sheriff's deputies arrested Warren on Thursday regarding the child support matter. No bond is set.

Judge Leslie Schneider ordered Warren on Sept. 11 to pay $900 in child support, resume making monthly support payments of $600 and pay his wife's $1,500 in attorney fees, in addition to other terms.

It is unclear from the court record how many terms of the order Warren complied with.

Court records indicate that Warren and his father have debt to Regions Bank totaling nearly $400,000 and that they are making payments under a Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan.

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