Body of Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev to be claimed by family

Relatives of the deceased Boston Marathon bombing suspect will claim his body now that his wife has agreed to release it, an uncle said Tuesday, RIA reported.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev's body has been at the medical examiner's office in Massachusetts since he died after a gunfight with authorities more than a week ago.

Amato DeLuca, the Rhode Island attorney for his widow, Katherine Russell, said Tuesday that her client had just learned that the medical examiner was ready to release Tsarnaev's body and that she wants it released to his family.

Police said Tsarnaev ran out of ammunition before his brother, 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, dragged his body under a vehicle while fleeing the scene. His cause of death has been determined but will not be made public until his remains are claimed.

"Of course, family members will take possession of the body," uncle Ruslan Tsarni of Maryland told The Associated Press on Tuesday night. "We'll do it. We will do it. A family is a family."