Military funeral held for veteran remains found at Cantrell

(WJBK) - The remains of military veterans were found abandoned, inside the shuttered Cantrell funeral home in Detroit.

 On Monday they were finally laid to rest, with the full military honors they deserve at the Great Lakes National Cemetery on Veterans Day.

Donna Martin says her brother, US Army Veteran Marshall Johnson, is finally where he belongs. Johnson's remains were not at the Holly Cemetery like they were told back in 2016 when he died from lung cancer, they were found at Cantrell Funeral Home along with more than 200 others.

"This is where I thought he was, all along," said Donna Martin. "And he wasn't."

The closed funeral home is also where fetuses were discovered. An investigation by state and local officials is currently underway.

"I just found my brother's ashes three weeks ago so I did not know if they cremated him or what," she said.

On Monday the special ceremony was held at the cemetery for the veterans. The procession, which included 18 hearses, started at the Verheyden Funeral Home in Grosse Pointe and traveled up I-75 to the cemetery. 

"I had to cry when I first came up here and saw all the people. It's beautiful," Martin said.

She was able to hear her brother's name and she was presented an American flag. Donna Martin believes her brother, Marshall, finally has peace 

"He's probably laughing somewhere," she joked. "But I am sure he's happy."

Fox 2 spoke to the former owner of Cantrell Funeral Home by phone about Monday's ceremony and he would only say that he was glad the funeral home was able to do that.

But Martin says despite the touching ceremony there is still pain. 

"I don't have words for it because it's just awful what we went through," she said.

She hopes one day she can put that pain away for good.