Draft:San Antonio Civil Trial in Missing Body Case

A twenty-five-year-old, Julie Mott of San Antonio, Texas, died due to complications with cystic fibrosis on August 8, 2015, and was placed in the hands of Robert “Dick” Tips, who owns MPII Inc. and Mission Park Funeral Chapels and Cemeteries. 

While in the hands of the funeral home, Julie Mott was embalmed and planned for cremation, as Mott insisted before her death. Her body disappeared following a funeral service at the Mission Park Funeral Chapels. The funeral was held at Mission Park Funeral Chapels North on her, would have been, 26th birthday. After the service, Mott's casket was moved to an unsecured visitation area, awaiting to be transferred to a crematorium. The funeral home closed around 4:30 p.m. When workers returned the next day, they found the empty casket damaged, and Mott's body missing. Attorneys concluded that whoever took the body broke the hinge on the casket because they removed the body from the top.

Authorities believe Mott’s body was stolen sometime between the end of the service and when the funeral home closed the next day. Those that typically close the funeral home include students and interns, as expressed by Tips.

Tips and his wife, Kristin, were accused by the Mott family of keeping information from them regarding third-party contractors who had unrestricted access to all Mission Park Funeral homes: these third-party contractors, Beyer & Beitel, transport decedents in preparation for burial or cremation. It was also stated in the trial that the funeral home's security codes and locks were outdated and hadn’t been changed in years. The Mott family filed a civil lawsuit in January 2016 against Mission Park and their negligence and asking for monetary damages.

One of the most prominent suspects during the trial was her ex-boyfriend, Bill Wilburn, who was described as abusive and obsessive and objected to her cremation following her death. Wilburn was later taken into custody for trespassing at the funeral home. During his deposition, when asked if he had taken the body, he refused to answer, invoking his Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination.

The final testimony was resumed the following week when a jury awarded Julia Mott's parents $8 million after they found a San Antonio funeral home was negligent in the loss of their daughter’s body.