Overview
- Investigators discovered more than 50 bodies in unrefrigerated, decomposing conditions at South Chicago Chapel during a state license inspection on Thursday, with police and medical examiner teams called to the scene.
- The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation temporarily suspended funeral director Johanna Morgan’s license after finding bodies kept in unrefrigerated areas with reported rodent and maggot infestations.
- The Cook County Medical Examiner has taken jurisdiction, is documenting and assessing remains, and is searching for death certificates and other identification records in a process officials say could take several days.
- Owners Johanna and Clark Morgan previously ran Heights Crematory, which was shut down after investigators found improperly stored bodies and hundreds of unreturned cremated remains, and Clark Morgan had a license revocation in 2024.
- Family members are distraught and seeking answers as detectives and state agencies continue the probe, and the case has prompted calls for stronger oversight of funeral operations and possible further legal action.