It seems Casey Kasem’s body has gone missing… again.
In an exclusive interview with Access Hollywood, a rep for Casey’s daughter, Kerri Kasem, revealed she and her family no longer know the location of their father’s corpse.
“When we called the mortuary on July 15, they couldn’t tell us where Casey was,” family spokesman Danny Deraney disclosed. “Then they said they couldn’t confirm or deny whether he was there.”
According to Deraney, the mystery further deepened when the Santa Monica Police Department got involved. Deraney claims the department, which is currently conducting an elder abuse investigation of Casey’s second wife Jean Kasem, contacted the mortuary and found out themselves that the “American Top 40” radio host’s body had been moved.
Access spoke to Corey Gaffney, the owner of the mortuary, who verified that Casey’s body has not been in his care for at least two days.
“I’m not allowed to say much beyond that,” Gaffney explained.
“We just hope Jean follows through with my father’s wishes to be buried at Forest Lawn,” Kerri Kasem said in response to the news.
Casey died at a Washington hospital on June 15 after battling advanced Lewy Body Disease and sepsis related to an infected bed sore. He was 82.
Meanwhile, a judge in Washington granted Kerri Kasem and her siblings a temporary restraining order on Wednesday, preventing Jean Kasem from cremating or removing Casey’s remains from a funeral home.
“I asked for a temporary restraining order to find out if my dad was still in Washington,” Kerri Kasem clarified. “Although the police need a more complete autopsy for their investigation, the point for me was not to get one. This is not about a fight to get his body back. I just want to know if Jean has buried him.”
Earlier this week, the New York Daily News reported the reason Casey Kasem still hasn’t been buried is because Jean Kasem arranged a private autopsy amid the claims of elder abuse.
Kerri Kasem filed a missing persons report for her father back in May, when he disappeared a day after she visited him at a care facility in Santa Monica.
Spokesmen for Jean Kasem and the Santa Monica Police Department were both called for the story, but did not respond in time for publication.
— Genevieve Wong
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