A month after 2,246 fetal remains were found in the Illinois garage of a doctor who performed abortions, more remains linked to him have been found.
Dr. Ulrich Klopfer died on September 3. His family found medically preserved remains while going through his belongings at his home in Will County, about 45 miles from Chicago, authorities said last month.
The discovery of additional fetal remains was announced Wednesday during a news conference held by the Indiana Attorney General. Klopfer operated in three abortion clinics in Indiana.
“Today we were notified by authorities in Illinois that family members this morning found additional fetal remains as they continued to sort through the late doctor’s belongings,” Attorney General Curtis Hill said.
“Dr. Klopfer apparently had a series of vehicles, my understanding is approximately eight vehicles on the property. When looking at the vehicles there did not appear to be anything unusual inside the vehicles, but they did discover, in one vehicle’s truck, items that contained the remains of aborted fetuses, were in that trunk,” Hill said.
The 2,246 fetal remains found in the Klopfer’s Illinois garage last month were from abortions he performed between 2000 and 2002, when he operated clinics in Indiana, authorities said.
They were inside small, sealed plastic bags that contained a chemical used to preserve biological material, Will County Sheriff Mike Kelley told reporters at a news conference last month. They were in boxes that were mixed in with other storage boxes.
His license was suspended in 2015
Klopfer operated three abortion clinics in South Bend, Indiana, before his license was suspended in 2015. County officials estimated how long the remains had been preserved but did not provide details on how they determined they were from nearly two decades ago.
“The condition they are in, it is clear that they are older,” said James Glasgow, Will County state’s attorney.
Klopfer did not follow Indiana law for disposal of the fetal remains and the filing of the proper paperwork, Glasgow said. The remains will be transferred to the custody of the Indiana attorney general.
Investigators also found “thousands” of abandoned medical records across his abortion clinics in Indiana, the Indiana attorney general said last month.
Hill has called Klopfer one “of the more notorious abortionists in the history of Indiana.”
The doctor had “a record of deplorable conditions and violations of regulatory controls that are placed on these clinics,” Hill said. “He certainly was problematic in life and as it turns out continues to present problems in his death.”
How the 2,246 remains were discovered
An attorney representing the doctor’s family called the Will County coroner’s office on September 12 to inform them the family had discovered what appeared to be the remains of fetuses and asked for assistance in removing them, the Will County Sheriff’s Office said.
Detectives arrived at the address and the coroner’s office took the remains. The family is cooperating with the investigation.
There is no evidence any medical procedures were conducted at the doctor’s property, according to the sheriff’s office.