A body was forgotten inside an Abney Lake Apartments on Indianapolis’ near east side. The body of Darrin Anderson went unnoticed for more than a month after the fire was put out. October 4th is Anderson's funeral and the family still wants to know what happened.
"I am going to miss him," said Darrin Anderson’s sister Karla Jones.
Karla Jones is dealing with the difficult task of burying her big brother.
"We all knew he was a momma's boy, so he is at home with my mom now,” said Jones. “I am at peace with that because I know they are together and they are my angels and they are going to look over me."
That peace did not come easy for Jones. The body of her brother, Darrin Anderson died was not found until more than a month later, after neighbors complained about the smell.
"For his body to be decomposed and then you can not recognize who my brother is,” said Jones. “Then you have to go through the x-ray, that turns into eight weeks that went by. That is very frustrating to me."
Fire investigators said Anderson's body was covered up by debris.
"That is something that we never want to have happen,” said IFD Deputy Chief of Operations Ken Bacon. “It is something that we feel badly about, especially for the family. But it is something that can happen very easily."
Deputy Chief Ken Bacon said fire crews did what they always do, they asked neighbors if the people living there were home. The answer was no. They asked if anyone else might be inside. The answer again - no.
"It is something that very rarely happens, but it did in this case,” said Bacon.
The family of Darrin Anderson said investigators should have done more.
"First of all if there is a fire in the kitchen, if there is debris on the ground you need to move the debris and check around and see if there is something underneath the debris, so yes I think there should be a change," said Jones.
Along with t-shirts, plenty of pictures of Darrin Anderson will be on display at Anderson's funeral. Despite the closed casket, the family will remember better days. And do their best to find closure.
"Now he gets to rest in peace," said Jones.
Chief Bacon said grief counselors were brought in to help firefighters deal with the emotion of leaving someone inside the apartment. Bacon added, in more than 30 years in the firefighting business, he had never experienced a body left behind a fire scene.
