Overview
- Investigators responding to a state license review found more than 50 bodies in various stages of decomposition at South Chicago Chapel, a discovery made on Thursday that triggered the Cook County medical examiner and Chicago police to intervene.
- The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation temporarily suspended funeral director Johanna Morgan’s license after finding bodies kept unrefrigerated in deplorable conditions that included rodent and maggot infestations.
- Cook County Medical Examiner staff and forensic pathologists are assessing remains, searching for death certificates and other identification records, and say the process could take several days before families can be notified or remains released.
- The funeral home is run by Johanna and Clark Morgan, who previously operated the Heights Crematory that was shut down in 2025 for improperly stored bodies and unreturned cremated remains; Clark had a license revoked and fined in 2024.
- Agencies are conducting an active criminal and regulatory investigation while families remain at the site seeking answers, and reporting about a Chicago Fire Department HAZMAT declaration has been inconsistent across outlets.