On the road to eternal peace, a body left inside a funeral home minivan wound up at hell on earth: the city tow pound.

The unscheduled stop came after a police tow truck hooked the illegally parked vehicle outside Redden's Funeral Home on W. 14th St.

The dearly departed was soon heading for a lot off the West Side Highway, with the truck driver handling the last rights - and a few lefts - on the ride through Chelsea.

Funeral director Paul DeNigris said he nearly died after walking outside the business Monday afternoon to find his client no longer resting in peace.

"I was just a wreck," DeNigris told the Daily News. "I was frantic. When something like that happens, you go into panic mode."

The corpse was finally rescued after 90 undignified minutes in Manhattan's most miserable locale, trapped amid scofflaws and irate out-of-towners.

DeNigris had parked his silver 2002 Dodge in a "No Parking Anytime" zone outside the funeral home. The body, in a white cardboard box, was headed for Newark Airport and a flight to Miami for cremation.

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[more at: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2010/03/12/2010-03-12_tow_no_thats_my_corpse_he_undertakes_mission_to_get_back_body_from_the_city_poun.html]