[Guns N' Coffee]

https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/20...el-95th-street

Several bodies are being loaded into vehicles Friday morning, apparently being taken to the Cook County medical examiner’s office after dozens of decomposing bodies were found at a Far South Side funeral home.

The remains of at least three bodies were seen by Chicago Sun-Times reporters being placed into an unmarked SUV outside the South Chicago Chapel, 2939 E. 95th St., as of about 9 a.m. More remains were loaded into another vehicle.

Police, acting on a tip, showed up at the chapel Thursday after hearing bodies at the South Deering funeral 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.

While a police report said a funeral was in progress at the time, family members said the funeral home was supposed to deliver their loved one’s body to the church for a wake Thursday, but the body never arrived.

Officers were met by funeral director Clark Morgan, who accompanied them on a walk-through of the building, according to the police report. 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 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The business’ license was revoked Wednesday, according to the police report. It was initially unclear why police didn’t visit the funeral home until the next day.

A Friday statement from Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza said while the South Chicago Chapel is not under her office’s jurisdiction, it is familiar with the funeral home’s operators, Johanna and Clark Morgan, for their “egregious past practices while operating the Heights Crematory,” which was a similar situation in 2025.

“Horrified. Again. The discovery of decomposing remains waiting to be laid to rest this week at a South Side funeral home is heartbreaking and an abomination. These are people — someone’s mother, father, sister, brother, child or friend, and they deserve better,” Mendoza said in the statement.

The Illinois comptroller’s office permanently shut down Heights Crematory in Chicago Heights last year after investigators found several improperly stored bodies and hundreds of cremated remains that “had never been returned to their families,” Mendoza said in the statement. The Clarks ran that business, too.

“Many of the bodies were stacked on top of each other, not refrigerated and partially exposed. Cremations were delayed and record keeping was abysmal,” Mendoza said in the statement. “To hear these same operators are doing the same thing again at South Chicago Chapel Funeral Home is infuriating.”

Mayor Brandon Johnson, in a late Friday morning statement, said the reports are “deeply disturbing.”

“Families entrusted this funeral home with the care of their loved ones during one of the most difficult moments of their lives. That trust appears to have been profoundly violated,” the mayor said in the statement.

“Every person deserves to be treated with dignity in life and in death, and every family deserves compassion, transparency, and respect as they grieve,” the mayor said in the statement.

“As this investigation continues, our hearts are with every family searching for answers,” the mayor said in the statement. “We hope they receive the clarity they deserve, and the peace of mind of knowing their loved ones will be laid to rest with the dignity, care, and respect every person deserves.”

The area around the home was blocked off by police Thursday night as neighbors milled about. At least one person came to the scene because she wanted to ask police officers whether her mother’s remains had been found. The funeral was July 18, and the woman 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 odor of embalming fluid.
“I was at peace, it had been a month,” she said.
“Now,” she said, her voice trailing off, “I just hope she’s not in there, but something is telling me she is.”

The foul smell that hung in the air Thursday night started during the winter, several neighbors told the Sun-Times.

One pair of neighbors said they were surprised by the late hours people worked at the funeral home. One neighbor, who worked a night shift, said he’d often see vehicles in the lot past midnight and an upstairs light on in the funeral home.

The neighbors said they put 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 Cook County medical ewxaminer’s office said its staff was “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. 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.

The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation suspended the license of the registered funeral director, Johanna Morgan. Her husband previously held 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.”

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[Mr.NoCredit]

Sounds like someone dropped the ball or many balls.

[Guns N' Coffee]

Originally Posted by Mr.NoCredit ↗

Sounds like someone dropped the ball or many balls.

Operator is a repeat offender