Overview
- Officials discovered 56 unrefrigerated bodies and more than 50 containers of cremated remains at South Chicago Chapel in conditions that state records say included rodent and maggot infestation and temperatures at or above 40°F.
- The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office has taken jurisdiction of the scene, is documenting and assessing the remains, and is searching for identification records and death certificates in a process officials say could take days.
- The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation temporarily suspended funeral director Johanna Morgan’s license the day before the discovery and records show her husband, Clark Morgan, had a license revoked in 2024.
- State investigators ordered Bohemian National Cemetery to stop accepting remains after finding equipment failures and 35 cremated remains, and those cremains have been returned to families while the cemetery faces possible disciplinary action.
- No arrests have been announced and multiple agencies are investigating potential civil or criminal violations as neighbors and families seek answers about missing or mishandled loved ones.