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The body of Texas school shooter Salvador Ramos sat in the morgue for nearly a month because local funeral homes didn’t want it.

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After the massacre in which the 18-year-old gunman murdered 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, the city’s two funeral homes were busy with the remains of Ramos’ victims. From our newsroom to your midday inbox, the latest headlines, stories, opinions and photos from the Toronto Sun. By clicking the subscribe button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300

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So Rushing-Estes-Knowles and Hillcrest Memorial refused to accept Ramos’ body and add to the trauma the victims’ families were already dealing with. “All of our staff grew up in Uvalde County and attended school in Uvalde County and believe that everyone deserves a dignified and respectful funeral,” Taylor Michelle Massey, managing director of funerals at Rushing-Estes-Knowles, told the Houston Chronicle.

We apologize, but this video failed to load. “However, in the weeks following the May 24 shootings, we were caring for 17 families in what was probably the most difficult time of their lives,” he explained.

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“In the circumstances, we did not believe it would be appropriate or in the best interests of the families we cared for to take custody of the remains of the person who caused them pain.” The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office performed an autopsy on Ramos on May 27, three days after the school shooting in which he was shot and killed by police. Eulalio “Lalo” Diaz Jr., a Uvalde County justice of the peace who also serves as the city’s medical examiner, had to figure out the best way to dispose of the body. “Once they got to him, the funeral homes in town said, ‘We don’t want to deal with him,’” she told the newspaper. This undated screenshot from Salvador Ramos’ Instagram account shows Ramos as the suspected gunman in the May 24, 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. (Instagram/AFP via Getty Images) Photo by Instagram /AFP via Getty Images Diaz reached out and eventually found a facility in Lockhart, Texas, about 165 miles from Uvalde, to take the body.

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“I had to store him for three weeks,” Diaz said. “As the funerals for the victims continued, I was still dealing with what to do with him. It was a stressful time.” Ramos was eventually cremated at the Crown Cremation Center in San Antonio, about 85 miles from Uvalde. Diaz said it could take up to a year to complete the autopsy reports on Ramos and his 21 victims, in part because the medical examiner’s office must also conduct 53 autopsies on the immigrants who died while being smuggled on tractors to end of June. “That’s 75 extra people added to their normal workload,” Diaz said. “We’re three months in and all I have are the preliminary reports.” The Robb Elementary attack was the second deadliest school shooting in US history.

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