Following the discovery of stockpiled bodies at a Southern Maryland crematory, Gov. Wes Moore is ordering an independent review of the state board that oversees the industry.

The Maryland State Board of Morticians and Funeral Directors ordered Heaven Bound Cremation Services in Charles County to stop operations earlier this month after inspectors found decomposing bodies in cardboard boxes. Before that, Heaven Bound had been on probation for years due to poor practices, according to the state order.

Moore said he ordered a “top-to-bottom operational review” of the state board.

“There is no higher responsibility for any administration than protecting the health and safety of Marylanders,” the Democratic governor said in a statement Thursday. “Today, we further honor our commitment to that pledge.”

Moore enlisted the help of attorney Charles P. Scheeler to lead the review. Scheeler was with the high-powered firm DLA Piper for decades and was deeply involved in the investigation of steroid use among Major League Baseball players that resulted in the 2007 Mitchell Report.

Scheeler is charged with presenting recommendations to the governor and the Maryland General Assembly on improving the morticians board’s “oversight and efficiency.”

Heaven Bound Cremation Services had been on the radar of the morticians board for years. A complaint led to the opening of an investigation in 2017. Despite escalating actions from the morticians board, the problem of bodies awaiting cremation being improperly stored continued.

In March 2024, according to state documents, an inspector discovered “human bodies in cardboard boxes stacked on top of each other with no support between the boxes; human bodies in ripped body bags with arms and legs hanging out of the body bags; human remains that were not being stored in temperatures below 40 degrees Fahrenheit; and blood on the refrigeration unit and bodily fluids on the floor.”

Similar problems were found a month later, leading to a 10-day suspension and $2,000 fines for each of the owners, Rosa Williams and Brandon Williams.

The problems were found again this month, according to the most recent suspension order. The order stated that the cremation chamber wasn’t working, a refrigeration unit was blocked by boxes of human bodies and there were dried fluids on the floor. One of the “visibly decomposing bodies” had been in the facility since the March 2024 inspection, according to the order.

Heaven Bound officials could not immediately be reached for comment on Thursday; the crematory’s listed phone number was out of service.