Remains of woman, 25, stolen from mortuary

SAN ANTONIO, TX -- Police are seeking clues to the whereabouts of the corpse of a 25-year-old woman stolen from a casket after her funeral at a San Antonio, Texas, chapel last week.

Mission Park Funeral Chapel North is offering a $20,000 reward for information leading to those who took Julie Mott's body sometime between her Aug. 15 funeral and the next day, when her corpse was found to be missing.

Police Sgt. Javier Salazar says investigators believe the body was taken between the end of the funeral at 1:30 p.m. and when the mortuary was locked up at 4:30 p.m.

Mortuary owner Robert Tips, who says the Motts are close friends of his, says the woman died Aug. 8 of cystic fibrosis and that Mott's family had planned to have her body cremated.

"This is a family business of five generations, and I'm just not believing that this is happening," Tips said.

""So we wouldn't rule out anyone at this case," Salazar said. "So, while they are following up on cases, we do know that there is a distinct possibility that the person we need to be watching hasn't come to our attention yet."

Once caught, the person responsible could face a Class A misdemeanor for abuse of a corpse. But the funeral home owner says he's talking to lawmakers to increase the punishment for the crime.

"And I'm moving forward because I just can't believe that it's a Class A misdemeanor, the truth of the matter is that a Timex watch is more important than human remains," Tips said.

There are no surveillance cameras set up at the mortuary, but Tips said they will be making changes in security, which will include locking more doors.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.