Overview
- Officials discovered more than 50 decedents in varying states of decomposition at South Chicago Chapel on the city's Southeast Side and opened an active investigation.
- The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office is leading identification work, reviewing death certificates and other records, and says the process could take several days before families are notified.
- State records list Clark Morgan as the funeral home's owner and reporters have sought comment from the facility but have not received a response.
- The discovery raises public-health and regulatory questions that may prompt further probes by local and state authorities into handling, record-keeping, and licensure.
- Local reporting notes that ABC7 previously found a Chicago Heights crematory run by a person with the same name was shut down after more than 100 bodies were improperly stored, a detail that officials have not independently confirmed as connected to this case.