The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office said it was notified by Illinois and Chicago officials about decedents who had been improperly stored at a funeral home.
“MEO investigators and forensic pathologists went to the funeral home, located at 2939 E. 95th St. in Chicago, this afternoon. The team has found more than 50 decedents in various states of decomposition at this time,” the office said in a statement.
Medical Examiner’s Office staff are assessing the condition of the remains and searching for documentation to establish the identities of the deceased, as well as locating relevant death certificates.
“This process could take several days to ensure proper disposition,” the statement said.
The Medical Examiner’s Office said it would work with authorities to identify the deceased as quickly as possible and notify their families.
No arrests have been made so far.
Neighbours told local media that a foul smell had been coming from the area around the funeral home, ABC7 reported.
According to records from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, the state suspended the licence of funeral director Johanna Morgan after determining that the facility’s “continued practice is a danger to the public safety, interest and welfare,” CBS News reported.
One neighbour, who identified herself only as “V”, said she had lived directly behind South Chicago Chapel for about a year and had repeatedly noticed a disturbing smell.
“It just, like, stinks all the time. Like, it's so bad,” she told CBS News.
She described the smell as being similar to that of “a dead mouse.”
“I have a 3-year-old, I live right next door,” Valkiery Velez told CBS News Chicago. “I lived there for like a year, so, like, I could smell it the whole year.”