Funeral home where 50 rotting bodies were discovered branded 'an abomination'

Funeral home where 50 rotting bodies were discovered branded 'an abomination' South Chicago Chapel Funeral Home was raided by cops on Thursday who made the shocking discovery, and officials revealed that the couple who ran the home had allegedly done it before Police have made a horrifying discovery after more than 50 bodies were found decomposing in an unrefrigerated room at a funeral home. The South Chicago Chapel Funeral Home in Chicago was being run by a couple who had previously operated another crematorium where similar horrific scenes allegedly occurred. Cops were called in to help with a license investigation at the funeral home on Thursday and reportedly found dozens of corpses. A team of investigators and forensic pathologists from the local Medical Examiner’s Office found bodies in “various states of decomposition,” a spokesperson said. “MEO staff are assessing the conditions of the remains, searching for documentation regarding identification of the deceased as well as death certificates,” the office said in a statement. It is not known how long bodies had been at the funeral home or what tipped of authorities to investigate. Cops have said enquiries are ongoing and no arrests have been made yet. The couple who run the funeral home, Johanna and Clark Morgan, had “egregious past practices” while operating the Heights Crematory in Chicago Heights, according to Susana Mendoza, who is in charge of licensing funeral homes in the state of Illinois. Ms Mendoza told how the Heights Crematory had been shut down last year after investigators found multiple bodies stacked on top of each other inside broken refrigerators, the New York Times reports. “Horrified. Again,” Ms Mendoza said in a statement. “The discovery of decomposing remains waiting to be laid to rest this week at a Southside funeral home is heartbreaking and an abomination.” Officials have taken away Mrs Morgan’s license, who was listed as the registered funeral director, after Thursday’s grim discovery. State regulators wrote in a disciplinary filing that her “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” that included rodent infestation. Mr Morgan had already had his funeral director and embalmer intern license revoked in 2024 because he was operating on an expired license and had engaged in “unprofessional conduct,” officials said. The horrific find comes after Hull funeral director Robert Bush was jailed for 20 years last week after police about 35 bodies and more than 100 sets of ashes after raiding Legacy Independent Funeral Directors following a tip-off.