NBC 5 Investigates has uncovered gruesome new details about the conditions at a South Deering funeral home that investigators raided earlier in August.
Documents obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation reveal the scope of the appalling conditions investigators found.
According to the documents, 31 bodies were found in a non-refrigerated area where the temperature registered 88 degrees Fahrenheit.
Investigators found maggots inside body bags and rodent infestations – with rats “scurrying away” in front of them. Some of the bags had rodent feces.
The odor, investigators said, was “overwhelming.”
State regulators have since suspended South Chicago Chapel director Johanna Morgan’s funeral director license. Investigators found Morgan’s husband and business partner, Clark Morgan, couldn’t produce chain of custody documents for 30 of the 49 dead bodies identified during the raid.
“This was done by some of the worst actors, some of evil as individuals,” said Illinois Rep. Marcus Evans, who represents the area.
Evans said he is preparing to introduce legislation that will tighten up regulations on the funeral home industry.
“There’s gonna be more inspections, there’s going to be more keeping our eyes on these individuals. Because the remains of our loved ones should be protected, the remains our loved ones should be respected,” Evans said.
In 2025, Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza, who is running for mayor of Chicago, shut down a Chicago Heights crematorium operated by the Morgans after state officials found “bodies piled on top of each other not in proper containers.”
Mendoza and Evans both said oversight of all crematoriums, funeral homes and cemeteries should fall under one state office; currently IDFPR and the Comptroller split oversight duties.
The Morgans previously had their funeral director licenses suspended twice each, and paid thousands in fines for past violations. South Chicago Chapel is currently boarded up and closed for business.
Johana Morgan is slated to appear for a hearing before the IDFPR in late September before the agency decides whether to revoke her license. The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office has identified 47 of 56 bodies that were stored in the chapel.
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