Dozens of decomposing bodies were found Thursday at a Far South Side funeral home, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
A funeral was in progress when police, acting on a tip, showed up at South Chicago Chapel, 2939 E. 95th St., police said. Police had been told bodies at the home were not being stored at or below 40 degrees, as required by state regulations, according to a police report obtained by the Sun-Times.
Officers were met by funeral director Clark Morgan, who accompanied them on a walk-through of the building. During the walk-through, they found 57 bodies in various areas of the funeral home. The bodies were not refrigerated, and were in various states of decomposition, according to the police report.
At some point, officers left the building, and when they tried to go back inside. Morgan told officers that on the advice of his attorney, he wasn’t letting them back in without a warrant. After officers told Morgan they did not need a warrant to inspect the building during operating hours, he padlocked the door and left, according to the report. Officers then called the Chicago Fire Department to help gain entry to the building.
The business’ license was revoked Wednesday, according to the police report.
The area around the home was blocked off by police Thursday night as some neighbors continued to mill about.
The foul smell that hung in the air Thursday night started during the winter, several neighbors told the Sun-Times.
One pair of neighbors were initially thrown off by the late hours people would be working at the funeral home. One, who worked night shift, said he’d often see in the lot past midnight.
They said they ended up putting up traps for the thousands of flies that emanated from the building. They, along with other neighbors, reported it to law enforcement six months ago, they said.
“We’re grateful,” one neighbor said of the investigation. “I thought it was weird. … [But] we had an idea of what was going on.”
In a statement, the medical examiner’s office said it had been notified by Illinois and Chicago officials of the improperly stored bodies. Investigators and forensic pathologists went to the funeral home on Thursday and found “more than 50 decedents in various states of decomposition.”
Staff from the medical examiner’s office are “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,” according to the statement. The office “will work with authorities to identify these decedents as quickly as possible and notify their families.”
Another neighbor said whenever people would enter or exit the building for a funeral, “you could smell the rot.”
“We thought at first it was coming from a factory nearby, but it was like a rotting smell,” another neighbor said. “It smelled like an animal that was dead. … It wasn’t once or twice, it was every weekend. It was a fight to go outside and get in the car.”
“We just hope the families find their loved ones,” she added.
At least one fearful woman showed up Thursday hoping exactly that. The woman wanted to ask police officers if her mother’s remains had been found. Her funeral was July 18, and she said the funeral home had dodged her calls Thursday.
She had been told she would have access to her mom’s cremated remains less than two weeks after the funeral. It was now nearing three.
She said it smelled when she had been there previously, but she had chalked it up to the smell of embalming fluid.
“I was at peace, it had been a month,” she said.
“Now,” she said, trailing off uncertainly. “I just hope she’s not in there but something is telling me she is.”
The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation suspended the license of the registered funeral director Johanna Morgan. Her husband previously held a a funeral director and embalmer intern license, which was revoked in 2024, according to the department.
That department alerted authorities after investigating.
A message left on the voicemail inbox of the funeral home Thursday was not returned.
A one-star Google review of the chapel posted two weeks ago complained: “HORRIBLE!! It smells and they are very unprofessional.”
Contributing: Rosemary Sobol, Lauren FitzPatrick, Tom Schuba