Two funeral directors in Texas have been charged with multiple felonies after authorities discovered a dozen decomposing bodies in unsanitary, hot, and filthy conditions. One body was in such an advanced state of decomposition it was described as “mostly liquefied.”

Michael Richardson and Gayle Elaine Bell were arrested last week, each facing three counts of corpse abuse, according to court documents reviewed by Law&Crime.

Per the probable cause affidavit, Houston Police Department officers responded to a complaint on April 11 about potential corpse abuse at Richardson Mortuary, located on the 3200 block of Brookfield Drive. A woman reported that her mother, who passed away on March 31, had not been properly cared for despite paying Richardson over $17,000 for funeral arrangements.

The complainant stated she met with Richardson, who presented himself as the “funeral director,” on the day of her mother’s death. He assured her that her mother’s body would be stored at Richardson Mortuary.

In the days leading up to the mother’s funeral, scheduled to take place April 12, the victim said she made multiple attempts to meet with Richardson and his employees at the funeral home to bring clothes for her mother but said they “refused to meet her.”

The victim decided to take matters into her own hands and went to the funeral home on April 11, where she made a shocking discovery.

“[The victim] said she found her deceased mother in a coffin covered in bugs and in an advanced state of decay,” the affidavit states. “[The victim] said she also noticed several deceased bodies in the warm building in different stages of decomposition. The building was open to the elements, very dirty, hot, not sanitary, and under construction with a strong odor of decomposition. [The victim] said she was disgusted and immediately called her brother … along with the police. [The victim’s] brother, arrived and video recorded the conditions inside the building. [He] posted the poor conditions of the building and the multiple decomposing deceased individuals at Richardson Mortuary on social media.”

The video appears to show more than a dozen caskets strewn about the building amid trash, tools, and random pieces of furniture due to the building being under construction. One room appeared to have multiple visible bodies on gurneys — some covered with blankets, some completely out in the open. Police and multiple witnesses said the entire building was completely opened to the elements due to the construction.

Police said the video went viral and resulted in the families of the deceased and community members gathering outside of the establishment as another company was hired to transport the bodies to a sanitary facility. The owner of that facility also provided a statement to police.

“[The witness] said he found twelve decedents stored at Richardson Mortuary,” the affidavit says. “[The witness] said the building was under construction, dirty, and the air conditioner was not working. [He] said the decedents were in various stages of decomposition including one decedent that was largely liquified. Witness Jackson said the decedents were not in cold storage but stored in a dirty, hot room.”

The witness told authorities he still has not been paid by Richardson or Bell for transporting and storing the bodies.

A list of the decedents was recovered from the premises, with one deceased female listed as “body liquified.”

The Texas Funeral Services Commission on April 14 issued a cease and desist order for Richardson Mortuary which said the establishment “engaged in fraudulent, unprofessional, or deceptive conduct in providing funeral services or merchandise to a customer and engaged in dishonest conduct, willful conduct or negligence in the practice of embalming or funeral directing that is likely to or does deceive, defraud, or otherwise injure the public.”

Richardson and Bell were not being held in detention as of Tuesday. Prosecutors had requested bond for both defendants be set at $5,000. The defendants are scheduled to appear in Harris County Circuit Court on Oct. 15, records show.