New details are unfolding after more than 50 bodies were found in “various stages of decomposition” at a funeral home in Chicago Thursday, with the funeral operators’ “egregious past practices” leading to their licenses being suspended and an investigation underway.
According to the Cook County Medical Examiner, dozens of decomposing bodies were discovered Thursday at the South Chicago Chapel funeral home, located at 2939 E. 95th St. in South Deering. The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation said the license of registered funeral director Johanna Morgan was suspended one day prior.
In a statement, Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza called the discovery “heartbreaking and an abomination.”
“Horrified, again,” the statement said in part. “These are people – someone’s mother, father, sister, brother, child or friend, and they deserve better.”
In a news release sent Friday, the IDFPR said it took “swift action” after learning of the situation at the South Side funeral home, and was working with investigators “to ensure all appropriate regularly and public-safety steps are taken.”
Early Friday morning, officials from the Chicago Police Department and the Cook County Medical Examiner remained at the funeral home, with roads blocked and personnel seen taking gurneys in and out.
The IDFPR handles the physical operations and professional credentials of funeral homes, Mendoza’s office said. The department also licenses and disciplines funeral directors and embalmers, and investigates operational issues like professional incompetence, vital records noncompliance, or the improper handling of human remains.
In 2024, Morgan’s husband Clark, who previously held a funeral director and embalmer intern license, had his credentials suspended.
In 2025, the Illinois Office of the Comptroller shut down the Morgan’s other business, Heights Crematory in Chicago Heights, after investigators discovered “several improperly stored bodies and hundreds of cremated remains that had never been returned to their families.”
Mendoza’s office said many of the bodies there were stacked on top of each other, not refrigerated and were partially exposed.
“Cremations were delayed and record keeping was abysmal,” Mendoza’s statement said. “To hear these same operators are doing the same thing again at South Chicago Chapel Funeral Home is infuriating.”
Mendoza said the situation at Heights Crematory led to a new law that gives the IOC more investigatory authority over crematories. The law was signed into effect this summer and will take effect Jan. 1, 2027.
“I am hopeful that the Morgans are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” her statement said.
As of Friday, the MEO said investigators and forensic pathologists were still assessing the conditions of the remains at the South Chicago Chapel funeral home and searching for documentation and death certificates, which could take days.
“This process could take several days to ensure proper disposition,” the release said. “The MEO will work with authorities to identify these decedents as quickly as possible and notify their families.”
Neighbors and residents in the area also reported a foul smell coming from the business.
“One thing we have been hearing from people who live in the area and are visiting relatives, there’s been an odd odor,” NBC 5 reporter Lisa Chavarria said Friday morning. “We can attest, there’s been a strange smell.”
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