Charges unlikely in case of Clearwater storage unit body

Clearwater police doesn't anticipate charging a relative of a woman whose skeletal remains were found Thursday after being stored in a storage unit since 1995.

Investigators today identified Ann Bunch, who was 95 when she died, as the woman who was placed in the storage unit at U-Stor Self Storage, 1217 Lakeview Road.

In 1995, Bunch's daughter, Bobbie Barnett Hancock, placed her mother in the storage unit, according to reports. Bunch's body had been prepared for burial and was placed in a long blue box with handles.

A manager at U-Stor had contacted the family because they had missed payments on the unit. He left a message saying he was going to auction off the contents of the storage unit.

The manager received a call Thursday afternoon from Rebecca Ann Fancher, who is Hancock's daughter and Bunch's granddaughter. Fancher told the manager that he couldn't auction off the storage unit because her grandmother had been placed in it after she died.

Fancher, 54, of Clearwater told the manager that her mother died recently and on her deathbed said that Bunch's body had been in the storage unit since 1995.

The manager went to the storage unit and found what appeared to be a casket. He then called Clearwater police.

Police found the box and Bunch's skeletal remains inside. Her remains were transported to A Life Tribute Funeral Care, which has locations in Largo and Gulfport.

During the investigation, police learned that the family rented a total of three storage units at U-Stor. Detectives looked through all three units and found nothing suspicious, said Joelle Castelli, a Clearwater police spokeswoman.

They also learned that Hancock's body was properly disposed by a funeral home in Alabama, Castelli said. Hancock, who was born in 1929, recently died, Castelli said.

The disposal of a body is heavily regulated by the government. Castelli said police don't anticipate filing charges against Fancher.

However, the case remains under investigation.