The late broadcaster Casey Kasem’s body is missing. His daughter, Kerri, found this out after she was granted a temporary restraining order preventing Kasem’s wife, Jean, from cremating his remains. When Kerri Kasem’s lawyer went to the funeral home where Kasem’s body was being held, he was advised the body was no longer there.
“After he died, he was taken to a mortuary for 30 days. Now we believe Jean has taken him somewhere else,” a representative for Kerri Kasem told TheWrap. “We are trying to figure out where.”
A lawyer for Jean Kasem did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
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According to the Associated Press, the funeral home told lawyer Scott Winship that they could not disclose “where [Kasem’s body] had gone or where he would end up.” Tim Grant, the funeral director at Gaffney Funeral Home & Cremation Services, confirmed to the AP that the body was no longer there.
Kerri Kasem’s rep, Danny Deraney, also confirmed that the mortuary has been unable to provide any specifics as to the whereabouts of Casey Kasem’s body.
This is just the latest chapter in a long legal battle between Casey Kasem’s wife and his adult children from a previous marriage.
Also read: Casey Kasem Death: Hollywood Reacts to the Radio Legend’s Passing
Kasem suffered from Lewy body disease, a form of dementia that ultimately left him unable to move, speak or even eat on his own. He passed away on June 15 after several weeks of legal entanglements between his wife of 34 years and his children.
The family’s struggle came into the news media when the “American Top 40” radio legend went missing in May. He was ultimately found in Washington at a friend’s home. Shortly thereafter, daughter Kerri Kasem was granted expanded powers to manage her father’s health.
He was moved to St. Anthony Hospital in a suburb of Seattle on June 1. After a thorough examination, he was moved a few days later to hospice care, where he lived out his final days.
Also read: Casey Kasem, Legendary Radio Personality, Dead at 82
Judge Ronald Culpepper ordered Jean Kasem to ensure Casey Kasem’s remains were preserved, and not cremated, until a decision could be made on Kerri Kasem’s request for an autopsy. That petition will be heard in Pierce County Superior Court in a July 25 hearing.