CHICAGO (AP) 鈥� More than 50 bodies were found improperly stored and decomposing Thursday at a Chicago funeral home run by a couple who previously operated a crematory that was similarly shut down because of mishandled remains, authorities said.
Illinois state officials, meanwhile, suspended the license of one of the funeral home’s directors, alleging bodies were being kept in an unrefrigerated area in 鈥渄eplorable conditions.”
The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office said it was notified by state and local officials that bodies were being stored improperly at South Chicago Chapel, and investigators and forensic pathologists were dispatched. The remains were in various states of decomposition, officials said.
鈥淪taff is assessing the conditions of the remains, searching for documentation regarding identification of the decedents as well as death certificates. This process could take several days to ensure proper disposition,鈥� the medical examiner’s office said in a statement.
Police said Friday that their preliminary statement on the case incorrectly said that fire department officials declared the scene a hazardous materials incident.
No arrests have been announced, but city police said detectives are investigating.
Neighbors told local media outlets that there was a horrible smell coming from the funeral home area.
Messages for the funeral home were left by phone and through its website Friday.
State business records show that funeral director Johanna Morgan incorporated South Chicago Chapel Inc. in 2022 and her funeral director’s license was temporarily suspended on Wednesday.
The state Department of Financial and Professional Regulation said the license suspension was due to 鈥渁 finding that Respondent鈥檚 continued practice is a danger to the public safety, interest and welfare due to Respondent allowing multiple decedents to be kept in an unrefrigerated area with deplorable conditions including rodent infestation, causing decomposition and maggot infestation of the bodies.鈥�
The state business records also list Clark X. Morgan as the funeral home’s president. The Department of Financial and Professional Regulation said it revoked the funeral director license of a Clark X. Morgan and fined him $10,000 in 2024 for practicing with an expired license and 鈥渦nprofessional conduct鈥� that it did not specify.
State Comptroller Susana Mendoza said Friday that Johanna and Clark Morgan previously ran a crematory in Chicago Heights, south of Chicago, which had its license revoked last year after authorities discovered improperly stored bodies and hundreds of cremated remains that had never been returned to their families.
Mendoza said many of the bodies at the crematory were stacked on top of each other and not refrigerated.
鈥淗orrified. Again,鈥� Mendoza said in a statement. 鈥淭he discovery of decomposing remains waiting to be laid to rest this week at a South Side funeral home is heartbreaking and an abomination. These are people 鈥� someone鈥檚 mother, father, sister, brother, child or friend, and they deserve better.鈥�
Both Johanna and Clark Morgan are listed in Cook County court records as defendants in connection with lawsuits involving Heights Crematory in Chicago Heights, south of Chicago.
Public records show Johanna and Clark X. Morgan live at the same address in the Chicago suburb of Evergreen Park, and an obituary for Johanna Morgan’s mother lists her husband as Clark. Phone messages were left Friday for numbers listed in public records for Johanna and Clark Morgan, as well as for an attorney listed in records as their business agent.
South Chicago Chapel’s website says the funeral home is 鈥渄edicated to providing compassionate care and personalized services to support families during life鈥檚 most challenging moments.鈥�
The case is the latest in a series of incidents involving mishandled remains over the past three years.
Last month, for allegedly mishandling at least two dozen decomposing bodies and other remains found behind a hidden door in a funeral home.
That followed the in various stages of decomposition at a funeral home in Georgia in 2024. In 2023, were found in a building in Colorado, and were discovered at an Indiana funeral home.
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Collins reported from Hartford, Connecticut. Mayes-Osterman is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
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