JACKSON (AP) — State investigators sifted through a trash bin Friday behind a crematorium under scrutiny after allegations the owner dumped bones and ashes and returned the wrong remains to grieving relatives.

An anthropologist bagged what appeared to be bone fragments and ashes from the funeral home’s crematorium 24 hours after The Associated Press first reported what appeared to be human remains tossed into the bin.

Mark Seepe, the owner of Seepe Funeral Home and Crematorium, would not acknowledge reporters, but stood next to the trash bin talking with investigators from the attorney general’s office. Investigators also went inside the one-story, red brick building in an industrial part of Mississippi’s capital city. Authorities would not say what they found.

The crematorium came under scrutiny when a former employee came forward with pictures of what appeared to be the remains of several people dumped into a 55-gallon drum for disposal.

There were fragments that appeared to be bone scattered among broken bricks, mortar and a fine white dust in the trash bin Thursday when the AP visited the site.

Lori Wilkinson, the former employee who alerted authorities that Seepe was allegedly mishandling remains, said Seepe recently had work done on the crematory. She said he planned to dump ashes and bones that had spilled from a broken retort, the part of the crematory that catches the ashes. Other employees have come forward with similar claims.

The allegations have prompted outrage from horrified families who are afraid the remains they were given might not belong to loved ones.

The state Board of Funeral Service called for a criminal investigation after Wilkinson handed over dozens photographs on March 17. The board has fielded dozens of calls from across the South from distraught families.

Charles Riles, the chairman of the funeral board, said Wilkinson’s photographs show bones of more than one person mixed together. He said a proper cremation would leave no large bone fragments because they are supposed to be pulverized.

Riles also said that Josh Hatten, another former employee of the crematorium, filed a complaint in November, claiming that Seepe gave remains to a family before their relative had been cremated. The family of the late Edwin Van Every is suing for $5 million.

Investigators say this is the first time in memory such accusations have been made about a crematorium in Mississippi, but lawmakers have taken up the issue in recent years.

After hundreds of corpses were found strewn around the property of a Georgia crematorium in 2002, legislators made it a felony in Mississippi to desecrate human remains, officials said.

Attorney General Jim Hood’s office has declined to discuss laws dealing with human remains or whether Seepe may have violated state regulations.

State Rep. Steve Holland, a Democrat from Plantersville who has been in the funeral business for more than three decades, said he pushed for stronger legislation in the past.

‘‘We changed it when this Georgia episode broke,’’ he said, referring to the case against Ray Brent Marsh, operator of Tri-State Crematory. Marsh was sentenced to 12 years after authorities found 334 bodies scattered around his property in northwest Georgia.

When asked if the allegations such as those against Seepe would violate Mississippi’s law, Holland said: ‘‘I’m not sure about that but that’s what we passed it for.’’

Mississippi law about corpse desecration says: ‘‘Every person who shall knowingly and willfully dig up, except as otherwise provided by law, or in any way desecrate any corpse or remains of any human being, or cause through word, deed or action the same to happen, shall upon conviction be guilty of a felony …’’

Conviction of the crime is punishable by up to three years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Matt Steffey, a legal professor at Mississippi College, said if the allegations that Seepe mishandled cremated remains are proven, he believed Seepe could face criminal charges.

‘‘If those are bones in the Dumpster then that is strong and conclusive evidence of a crime,’’ Steffey said. ‘‘It’s almost inconceivable that they got there by accident.’’

Steffey said commingling of bones could also be considered a crime under the statute.

‘‘There is some ambiguity, but treating them with disrespect, commingling them together, not disposing of them properly would in my judgment meet the definition of the statute,’’ Steffey said.

The allegations could prompt lawmakers to take another look at state regulations.

‘‘It is the greatest human travesty to read and even know that this may be true,’’ Holland said. ‘‘It just breaks my heart.’’