Investigators descended on a South Side Chicago funeral home on Thursday after authorities discovered more than 50 human remains in various states of decomposition inside the building — the latest grim chapter in a pattern of mishandled remains tied to the same husband-and-wife team over several years.
Chicago police responded to South Chicago Chapel, located at 2939 E. 95th St., around 2 p.m. on Thursday, August 7, to support a licensing investigation by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR). What officers and state investigators found inside was far worse than a paperwork violation: dozens of bodies left in conditions that authorities described as deplorable, including remains stored without refrigeration in areas overrun with rodents and maggots.
Officials from the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office said they were alerted by authorities about improper storage of bodies at the site and immediately dispatched investigators and forensic pathologists to the scene. Investigators were observed taking multiple sets of remains out of the funeral home and bringing them to the medical examiner’s facility for processing.
Deplorable Conditions Inside the Funeral Home
State regulators did not mince words in describing what investigators encountered. The IDFPR said bodies had been kept without refrigeration in an environment with a rodent infestation that led to decomposition and a maggot infestation of the remains. The agency moved swiftly, temporarily suspending the funeral director’s license of Johanna Morgan — identified in state business records as the person who incorporated South Chicago Chapel Inc. in 2022 — on Wednesday, August 6, the day before the discovery.
Johanna Morgan’s husband, Clark X. Morgan, is listed in state business records as the funeral home’s president. The IDFPR said it revoked Clark X. Morgan’s funeral director and embalmer intern license in 2024 and fined him $10,000 for practicing with an expired license and conduct the agency described as unprofessional, though it did not specify the nature of that conduct.
Neighbors in the area had long noticed something was wrong. Neighbor Valkiery Velez told local media she had lived near the funeral home for about a year and could smell something foul the entire time. Another neighbor, who asked to be identified only as “V,” said the odor was constant and overpowering. Police later clarified that fire department officials did not declare the scene a hazardous materials incident, correcting an error in an earlier preliminary statement. No arrests have been announced as of Friday, though Chicago police said detectives are actively investigating.
Families Left Searching for Answers
For families who had entrusted their loved ones to South Chicago Chapel, the discovery has been devastating. Patrice Halliburton said her family used the funeral home for her older sister’s cremation services, which were conducted on June 13. The family received what they were told were the sister’s ashes far sooner than the two-to-three-month timeline they had been given — a detail that now haunts them.
“Well, I came in today just to find out if my sister is one of the bodies that they found,” Halliburton said. She added that the accelerated return of the ashes left her family unsure whether they had actually received her sister’s remains or something else entirely.
Halliburton’s anguish reflects a broader fear among families whose relatives passed through the funeral home. The medical examiner’s office said staff members are reviewing documentation, death certificates and other records in an effort to identify each set of remains as quickly as possible before notifying families. Officials warned the process could take several days.
A Troubling Pattern of Mishandled Remains
The discovery at South Chicago Chapel is not an isolated incident for the Morgans. Illinois State Comptroller Susana Mendoza confirmed that Johanna Morgan and Clark Morgan previously operated Heights Crematory in Chicago Heights, south of Chicago. That facility had its license revoked in 2025 after authorities discovered improperly stored bodies — many stacked on top of each other and left unrefrigerated — along with hundreds of cremated remains that had never been returned to the families of the deceased. Both Johanna Morgan and Clark Morgan are named as defendants in lawsuits connected to Heights Crematory, according to Cook County court records.
Susana Mendoza, reacting to the South Chicago Chapel discovery, expressed outrage that the same operators had apparently continued in the funeral industry after the Heights Crematory scandal. She called the situation heartbreaking and said the people whose remains were found deserved far better than what they received.
Authorities note the South Chicago Chapel case is part of a broader series of incidents involving mishandled human remains in Illinois over the past three years. The IDFPR said it alerted local agencies after learning of the situation and pledged to take whatever additional regulatory action is necessary to protect Illinois consumers and uphold standards in the funeral services profession. The medical examiner’s office continues to work through identification of all the remains, with notifications to families expected to follow as that process is completed.