Decaying remains found at Chicago funeral home following odor complaints

State regulators moved to suspend director Johanna Morgan’s license after investigators described an unrefrigerated facility plagued by rodent and maggot infestations. The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office is now working to identify the remains and locate death certificates, a process expected to take several days. The funeral home is managed by Johanna and Clark Morgan, a couple previously linked to a Chicago Heights crematory that lost its license last year following similar reports of improperly stored bodies and hundreds of unreturned cremated remains.

Local residents had reported a persistent, foul odor emanating from the building for months before authorities finally intervened. For families like Latasha Johnson’s, who held a funeral at the chapel just hours before the discovery, the news has caused profound distress. While no criminal charges have been filed, Chicago police detectives are actively investigating the site. This incident marks the latest in a series of similar national cases involving the mishandling of human remains at funeral facilities in Colorado, Georgia, and Indiana over the past three years.