Women Try to Bring Corpse Onto Plane
Last Updated 2:30 p.m. ET
Police have arrested two women at a British airport after they reportedly tried to bring a corpse onto a flight.
Police said Tuesday the women were detained at Liverpool's John Lennon airport "on suspicion of failing to give notification of death" of a 91-year-old man.
The BBC and other British media reported that the women placed the man, Curt Willi Jarant, into a wheelchair and covered his face with sunglasses in a bid to get him aboard a flight to Berlin, after hiring a taxi to take them to the airport.
The two women - his widow, 66, and step-daughter, 41 - said they thought he was asleep.
The women (reportedly German nationals who live in Oldham) were detained Saturday and have been released on bail.
They have not been charged and police say inquiries are continuing.
In an interview with the BBC, Jarant's stepdaughter Anke Anusic denied that she knew the 91-year-old was dead.
She said Jarant, who suffered from Alzheimer's, had been released from a hospital, where he had been treated for pneumonia.
"He was fine," she told the BBC. "If he was not fine the hospital wouldn't release him."
She also discounted the suggestion that the women were purposefully trying to smuggle his remains on board. "A dead person you cannot carry to Germany, there are too many people checking and security. How can you bring a dead person to Germany?
"He was alive. He was pale but he wasn't dead," Anusic added.
Jarant's wife, Gitta Jarant, described her late husband as "the best man of the world - good man."
© 2010 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Police have arrested two women at a British airport after they reportedly tried to bring a corpse onto a flight.
Police said Tuesday the women were detained at Liverpool's John Lennon airport "on suspicion of failing to give notification of death" of a 91-year-old man.
The BBC and other British media reported that the women placed the man, Curt Willi Jarant, into a wheelchair and covered his face with sunglasses in a bid to get him aboard a flight to Berlin, after hiring a taxi to take them to the airport.
The two women - his widow, 66, and step-daughter, 41 - said they thought he was asleep.
The women (reportedly German nationals who live in Oldham) were detained Saturday and have been released on bail.
They have not been charged and police say inquiries are continuing.
In an interview with the BBC, Jarant's stepdaughter Anke Anusic denied that she knew the 91-year-old was dead.
She said Jarant, who suffered from Alzheimer's, had been released from a hospital, where he had been treated for pneumonia.
"He was fine," she told the BBC. "If he was not fine the hospital wouldn't release him."
She also discounted the suggestion that the women were purposefully trying to smuggle his remains on board. "A dead person you cannot carry to Germany, there are too many people checking and security. How can you bring a dead person to Germany?
"He was alive. He was pale but he wasn't dead," Anusic added.
Jarant's wife, Gitta Jarant, described her late husband as "the best man of the world - good man."
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12 Comments Add a Comment See all 12 Comments
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- Most people on flights act like they are dead anyways. They are either sleeping or in their own world. Whats the big deal. I dont think that anyone would have noticed the differance.
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- It's such a hassle to get proper clearance for transporting a body internationally. And we had already bought the tickets.
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- Very brave! :). Good job so far, least she arrived at the airport with the corpse. :/
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- I guess they were pulling a "weekend at Bernies' "
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- Too funny. Airline security is not THAT bad lol
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- Hilar!
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- Must have had a non-refundble ticket.
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- Trying to live-out "Weekend at Bernie's"
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- I guess that if they had succeeded, they would have won a $1000 bet.
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- Ummm, it's "Weekend at Bernie's"
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