MYNORTHWEST NEWS

A month after his death, Casey Kasem’s body still in Tacoma

Jul 16, 2014, 7:49 AM | Updated: 8:29 am

In this Monday, Oct. 27, 2003 file photo, Casey Kasem accepts a radio icon award during the Radio M...

In this Monday, Oct. 27, 2003 file photo, Casey Kasem accepts a radio icon award during the Radio Music Awards in Las Vegas. Kasem, the smooth-voiced radio broadcaster who became the king of the top 40 countdown, died Sunday, June 15, 2014, according to Danny Deraney, publicist for Kasem's daughter, Kerri. He was 82. (AP Photo/Joe Cavaretta, file)

(AP Photo/Joe Cavaretta, file)

A spokesman for Casey Kasem’s daughter says the famous radio host’s unburied body remains at a funeral home in Tacoma, a month after his death.

Danny Deraney, publicist for Kerri Kasem, says Kasem’s children from his first marriage hope he will be buried at Forest Lawn cemetery in Glendale, California, as he wished.

Deraney says the celebrity’s second wife, Jean Kasem, has the rights to his body but has not yet arranged for him to be buried.

Hospital spokesman Scott Thompson with St. Anthony Hospital says Kasem’s wife collected his remains from the hospital after he died, but Thompson did not know what arrangements she made.

A call to Jean Kasem’s attorney was not immediately returned Tuesday.

Kasem was found in Washington last spring after a Los Angeles judge expressed concerns about the iconic DJ’s whereabouts and safety amid a dispute between his wife and children from another marriage.

The sheriff’s office in Kitsap County tracked him down the day after concerns arose. He was at a home where he and his wife, Jean, had been staying with longtime friends.

A Washington state judge eventually granted Kerri Kasem regular visits after she raised concerns about his well-being.

Kasem, who was suffering from dementia, stayed in Washington, but the strained relationship between his family continued. There had even been a report, that as Kasem was transported to a Gig Harbor Hospital by ambulance Jean Kasem yelled at Kerri Kasem and the media, and actually threw some raw meat in the direction of her stepdaughter.

Kasem died June 15 at a hospital in Washington state.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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A month after his death, Casey Kasem’s body still in Tacoma