{"id":805991,"date":"2026-08-07T18:36:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T18:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/805991\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T18:36:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T18:36:11","slug":"57-decomposing-bodies-discovered-at-far-south-side-funeral-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/805991\/","title":{"rendered":"57 decomposing bodies discovered at Far South Side funeral home"},"content":{"rendered":"

Several bodies are being loaded into vehicles Friday morning, apparently being taken to the Cook County medical examiner\u2019s office after dozens of decomposing bodies were found at a Far South Side funeral home.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"PatNabong-3.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Apparent remains are loaded into a vehicle outside the South Chicago Chapel, 2939 E. 95th St., a day after at least 57 decomposing bodies were found there Thursday. <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s body to the church for a wake Thursday, but the body never arrived.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Hearses<\/p>\n

Hearses sit parked outside the South Chicago Chapel after decomposing bodies were found in the South Deering funeral home.<\/p>\n

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n

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\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

The business\u2019 license was revoked Wednesday, according to the police report. It was initially unclear why police didn\u2019t visit the funeral home until the next day.<\/p>\n

A Friday statement from Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza said while the South Chicago Chapel is not under the IOC\u2019s jurisdiction, they are familiar with the funeral home\u2019s operators, Johanna and Clark Morgan, for their \u201cegregious past practices while operating the Heights Crematory,\u201d which was a similar situation in 2025. <\/p>\n

\u201cHorrified. 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 \u2014 someone\u2019s mother, father, sister, brother, child or friend, and they deserve better,\u201d Mendoza said in the statement. <\/p>\n

The IOC permanently shut down<\/a> Heights Crematory in Chicago Heights last year after investigators found several improperly stored bodies and hundreds of cremated remains that \u201chad never been returned to their families,\u201d Mendoza said in the statement. The Clarks ran that business, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of the bodies were stacked on top of each other, not refrigerated and partially exposed. Cremations were delayed and record keeping was abysmal,\u201d Mendoza said in the statement. \u201cTo hear these same operators are doing the same thing again at South Chicago Chapel Funeral Home is infuriating.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mayor Brandon Johnson, in a late Friday morning statement, said the reports are \u201cdeeply disturbing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFamilies 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,\u201d the mayor said in the statement. <\/p>\n

\u201cEvery person deserves to be treated with dignity in life and in death, and every family deserves compassion, transparency, and respect as they grieve,\u201d the mayor said in the statement. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs this investigation continues, our hearts are with every family searching for answers,\u201d the mayor said in the statement. \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

The area around the home was blocked off by police Thursday night as some neighbors milled about. At least one person came to the scene because she wanted to ask police officers whether her mother\u2019s remains had been found. The funeral was July 18, and the woman said the funeral home had dodged her calls Thursday.<\/p>\n

She had been told she would have access to her mom\u2019s cremated remains less than two weeks after the funeral. It was now nearing three.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Chicago<\/p>\n

Chicago police investigate South Chicago Chapel after investigators found dozens of decomposing bodies in the basement of the funeral home on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n

She said it smelled when she had been there previously, but she had chalked it up to the odor of embalming fluid.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was at peace, it had been a month,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow,\u201d she said, her voice trailing off, \u201cI just hope she\u2019s not in there, but something is telling me she is.\u201d<\/p>\n

The foul smell that hung in the air Thursday night started during the winter, several neighbors told the Sun-Times.<\/p>\n

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\u2019d often see vehicles in the lot past midnight, and an upstairs light on in the funeral home.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re grateful,\u201d one neighbor said of the investigation. \u201cI thought it was weird. \u2026 [But] we had an idea of what was going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement, the Cook County Medical Examiner\u2019s Office said its staff are \u201cassessing 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.\u201d The office \u201cwill work with authorities to identify these decedents as quickly as possible and notify their families.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another neighbor said whenever people would enter or exit the building for a funeral, \u201cyou could smell the rot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe thought at first it was coming from a factory nearby, but it was like a rotting smell,\u201d another neighbor said. \u201cIt smelled like an animal that was dead. \u2026 It wasn\u2019t once or twice, it was every weekend. It was a fight to go outside and get in the car.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just hope the families find their loved ones,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Police<\/p>\n

Police investigate in the 2900 block of East 95th Street on the South Side on Thursday night.<\/p>\n

| Nima Taradji\/For the Sun-Times<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

That department alerted authorities after investigating.<\/p>\n

A message left on the voicemail inbox of the funeral home Thursday was not returned.<\/p>\n

A one-star Google review of the chapel posted two weeks ago complained: \u201cHORRIBLE!! It smells and they are very unprofessional.\u201d<\/p>\n

Contributing: Rosemary Sobol, Lauren FitzPatrick, Tom Schuba<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Several bodies are being loaded into vehicles Friday morning, apparently being taken to the Cook County medical examiner\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":805992,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-805991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=805991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805991\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/805992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=805991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=805991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=805991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}