Employees at a laundry facility in Louisiana made a heartbreaking discovery when a load of linens arrived from Texas. Sadly, they found the remains of a stillborn baby who’d died weeks earlier in Dallas. Somehow, the baby’s remains entered the funeral home’s laundry and wound up at Alsco Uniforms in Shreveport. Now, investigators are working to understand how such a horrific mistake happened.
According to a statement from the Shreveport Police Department, employees found what they initially thought was a doll wrapped in linens. But when they looked closer, they realized it was the body of an infant. Alsco Uniforms staff called police around 5:30 a.m. on May 28, 2025, and the Violent Crimes Unit began an investigation. Detectives quickly identified the remains as a baby who was stillborn in Texas on May 3.
“It was a very disturbing scene,” Chris Bordelon of the Shreveport Police told NBCDFW5. “Officers found what was a small infant, what was described as mummified.”
Per police, the family held the infant’s funeral on May 17 at Golden Gate Funeral Home & Crematory in Dallas. The infant’s remains were supposed to be cremated. Sadly, they somehow wound up transported along with soiled linens to the Alsco facility.
“The detective on scene even told me it smelled strongly of formaldehyde, which is something that’s not typical of any of our crime scenes,” Bordelon said.
Additionally, police notified the Texas Funeral Service Commission, which is investigating the tragic situation.
“There are laws when it comes to discarding of bodies, and the funeral home and or any individuals involved could be subject to those laws,” Bordelon said. “This clearly is some type of act of negligence, whether it be on the part of a cleaning service for the funeral home or the funeral home itself.”
“This is an unfortunate set of circumstances that no family should have to go through,” Bordelon said. “We don’t come across finding children that didn’t die in Louisiana in Louisiana.”
Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith echoed Bordelon’s sentiment.
“This is a deeply distressing situation,” he said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with the family of the child as this investigation unfolds.”
Police do not suspect foul play in the case. Authorities did not disclose the infant’s identity.
