Overview
- Investigators discovered more than 50 decedents in various states of decomposition at South Chicago Chapel after a licensing check, with a police report recording 57 bodies during a walkthrough on Thursday.
- The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation suspended funeral director Johanna Morgan’s license after finding decedents stored unrefrigerated in rodent- and maggot-infested conditions.
- The Chicago Fire Department declared a hazardous-material incident and Cook County Medical Examiner teams have been removing remains, assessing decomposition, and searching for death certificates and identifying documents; the MEO says the process could take several days.
- Families say planned viewings and funerals were disrupted, some reported missing bodies, and some who already received ashes now question whether those remains are theirs.
- State records show the owners previously ran Heights Crematory, which was shut down for improperly stored bodies and unreturned ashes, raising urgent questions about oversight, potential prosecutions and regulatory changes to monitor crematories and funeral operations.