2,246 fetal remains found at home of former abortion doctor

JOLIET, Ill. (AP) - More than 2,000 medically preserved fetal remains have been found at the Illinois home of a former Indiana abortion clinic doctor who died last week, authorities said.

The Will County Sheriff's Office said in a news release late Friday that an attorney for Dr. Ulrich Klopfer's family contacted the coroner's office Thursday about possible fetal remains being found at the home in an unincorporated part of Will County in northeastern Illinois.

The sheriff's office said authorities found 2,246 preserved fetal remains but there's no evidence medical procedures were performed at the home.

The coroner's office took possession of the remains. An investigation is underway.

Klopfer, who died Sept. 3, was a longtime doctor at an abortion clinic in South Bend, Indiana. It closed after the state revoked the clinic's license in 2015.

Klopfer's license was suspended by Indiana's Medical Licensing Board in November 2016 after finding a number of violations, including a failure to ensure qualified staff was present when patients received or recovered from medications given before and during abortion procedures.