LaFayette, Ga. ? Authorities on Friday arrested the parents of the man accused of dumping hundreds of corpses on the grounds of the crematory he operated in northern Georgia.

Tommy Ray Marsh Sr. and Clara Marsh and their daughter, Rhames Marsh, all were charged with lying on a death certificate.

The charges are the first against anyone besides Tri-State Crematory operator Ray Marsh, who took over the family business in 1996 from his parents.

Prosecutors say his family misrepresented themselves as funeral home officials by signing death certificates.

The three were taken to the Walker County jail after their arrests, but later released on bond. During a brief court hearing, the 76-year-old Marsh sat in a wheelchair, and his wife, 70, wiped his nose and face. Their lawyer, Ken Poston, said Marsh had Parkinson’s disease, among other ailments.

Poston said the arrests were based on papers that had been known to authorities for weeks. He criticized the arrests as “Friday night specials.”

“What danger did that old man pose to the community?” Poston said, referring to the elder Marsh, who was taken to jail in his wheelchair.

So far, 339 corpses have been found on the property of the Marsh crematory. Only 109 have been identified.

Ray Marsh, 28, is jailed on 174 counts of theft by deception, accused of discarding bodies he was paid to cremate and in some cases passing off dirt or cement powder as human remains.