More than 50 bodies found improperly stored and decomposing at Chicago funeral home

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Blaise Von Bruchhaeuser, who described herself as a community advocate for the neighborhood, said it was upsetting that complaints about a terrible odor had been made for months before the decomposing bodies were found.

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CHICAGO (AP) — 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 “deplorable conditions.”

The discovery came months after neighborhood residents began noticing a “stench” emanating from the funeral home, which led some to complain to the city.

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 Thursday. The remains were in various states of decomposition, officials said.

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Later Friday, a small number of residents and people seeking information about their deceased loved ones gathered in front of the brick-walled funeral home, which is on a South Chicago street lined with trees, homes and businesses.

Latasha Johnson, 55, said her mother’s funeral was held at South Chicago Chapel on Thursday before authorities arrived and she later heard of their gruesome discovery. She said authorities told her that her mother’s body would have to undergo an autopsy and she would have to identify the remains in a day or two.

“I’m discombobulated,” she said. “My heart is broken.”

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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 “a finding that Respondent’s 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.”

The state business records also list Clark Morgan, who state officials say is Johanna Morgan’s husband, as the funeral home’s president. The Department of Financial and Professional Regulation said Clark Morgan’s funeral director license was revoked in 2024 for practicing with an expired license and “unprofessional conduct” that it did not specify.

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