hermes
Acrobat
Don't know how many of you have heard about this or been following it, fark.com has been posting a lot about it, here's the grisly latest.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,652105,00.html
More than 100 bodies found as US crematorium gives up grisly secret
Matthew Engel in Washington
Monday February 18, 2002
The Guardian
More than 100 bodies have been discovered around a crematorium in the US state of Georgia by bewildered investigators trying to understand what they are calling the most ghoulish mystery they have ever encountered.
The crematorium manager, Brent Marsh, 28, was released on bail yesterday after appearing in court charged with five counts of theft by deception: stealing the bodies under the pretence that they would be cremated.
Mr Marsh reportedly told authorities that the crematorium's incinerator was broken. However, many of the remains dated back at least three years and, on some estimates, several could have been there for more than 10 years. Officers fear the body count might run into thousands.
"The worst horror movie you've ever seen?" said the county coroner, Dewayne Wilson. "Imagine that 10 times worse. That is what I am dealing with."
A search was launched late on Friday in the crematorium's 16-acre grounds after a woman walking her dog found a skull. Dozens of corpses and hundreds of body parts were discovered almost at once, lying in woods or stored in outbuildings. Some were bodies of people who had died in the past week, and were readily identifiable. Others were either mummified or skeletons.
John Bankhead, a spokesman for the Georgia bureau of investigation said some bodies were found in rusty coffins that appeared to be as much as 10 years old. "At one time they apparently were buried in the ground in some other cemetery and were dug up and taken to the crematory, Mr Bankhead said. "We don't know why that is."
The Tri-State Crematory is in the small town of Noble in the north-east corner of Georgia. It also serves parts of Alabama and Tennessee, notably the large city of Chattanooga. Dozens of funeral homes in the area use it. The Marsh family has owned the business for decades, and Brent Marsh took charge in 1996 when his father, Ray, became ill.
The family was respected in the area and Brent's mother, Clara, a teacher for more than 30 years, was once voted Walker County's citizen of the year. Ray and Clara Marsh still live in a house in the grounds of the crematory.
Brent Marsh is treasurer of his local Baptist church, attends bible class regularly and is a member of the county board of family service.
Investigators believe he is the only person implicated, but could not immediately explain why some of the bodies appear to predate the time he took over.
"I have never seen anything like this," said Dr Kris Sperry, Georgia's chief medical examiner. "Neither have any of my professional colleagues and, frankly, we hope never to have to do so again."
Shocked relatives were yesterday having urns examined to see if the contents were the remains of their loved ones or, as officials now believe, just wood ash. Lisa Cash, who thought her mother's ashes were on a table in her living room, said: "I've got someone in an urn, or something. I don't know what."
Others were less phlegmatic. "I'd just like to get hold of the guy," said Marshall Wilson, whose brother was supposedly cremated. Tim Mason's father was the first to be identified. "I mean I can see getting a few days behind," Mr Mason said. "But months? Years? I just can't imagine anyone doing that." His wife, Neva, said: "I don't know which is worse, him dying or this."
There was said to be no smell from the grounds, possibly because most of the crematorium's business came from the two neighbouring states and the law makes it compulsory for bodies being transported across state lines to be embalmed first.
A state of emergency was declared for the area, as officials began excavation work that they estimate could last weeks or months. They fear many more bodies could be at the bottom of a nearby lake.
Officials have set up a morgue at the site, believing it could finally yield several hundred bodies.
Mr Bankhead described seeing boxes around the grounds, lying on piles of junk, with bodies inside them. Close by were body parts strewn around: "A skull to your right, a leg bone to your left, a rib cage not too many feet away," he said.
Callers to the crematorium yesterday were met with a terse message: "Please refer any calls to the Walker County sheriff's department."
The case comes a few months after a funeral company in Florida was accused of digging up bodies and dumping them in nearby woods to make room for new burials.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,652105,00.html
More than 100 bodies found as US crematorium gives up grisly secret
Matthew Engel in Washington
Monday February 18, 2002
The Guardian
More than 100 bodies have been discovered around a crematorium in the US state of Georgia by bewildered investigators trying to understand what they are calling the most ghoulish mystery they have ever encountered.
The crematorium manager, Brent Marsh, 28, was released on bail yesterday after appearing in court charged with five counts of theft by deception: stealing the bodies under the pretence that they would be cremated.
Mr Marsh reportedly told authorities that the crematorium's incinerator was broken. However, many of the remains dated back at least three years and, on some estimates, several could have been there for more than 10 years. Officers fear the body count might run into thousands.
"The worst horror movie you've ever seen?" said the county coroner, Dewayne Wilson. "Imagine that 10 times worse. That is what I am dealing with."
A search was launched late on Friday in the crematorium's 16-acre grounds after a woman walking her dog found a skull. Dozens of corpses and hundreds of body parts were discovered almost at once, lying in woods or stored in outbuildings. Some were bodies of people who had died in the past week, and were readily identifiable. Others were either mummified or skeletons.
John Bankhead, a spokesman for the Georgia bureau of investigation said some bodies were found in rusty coffins that appeared to be as much as 10 years old. "At one time they apparently were buried in the ground in some other cemetery and were dug up and taken to the crematory, Mr Bankhead said. "We don't know why that is."
The Tri-State Crematory is in the small town of Noble in the north-east corner of Georgia. It also serves parts of Alabama and Tennessee, notably the large city of Chattanooga. Dozens of funeral homes in the area use it. The Marsh family has owned the business for decades, and Brent Marsh took charge in 1996 when his father, Ray, became ill.
The family was respected in the area and Brent's mother, Clara, a teacher for more than 30 years, was once voted Walker County's citizen of the year. Ray and Clara Marsh still live in a house in the grounds of the crematory.
Brent Marsh is treasurer of his local Baptist church, attends bible class regularly and is a member of the county board of family service.
Investigators believe he is the only person implicated, but could not immediately explain why some of the bodies appear to predate the time he took over.
"I have never seen anything like this," said Dr Kris Sperry, Georgia's chief medical examiner. "Neither have any of my professional colleagues and, frankly, we hope never to have to do so again."
Shocked relatives were yesterday having urns examined to see if the contents were the remains of their loved ones or, as officials now believe, just wood ash. Lisa Cash, who thought her mother's ashes were on a table in her living room, said: "I've got someone in an urn, or something. I don't know what."
Others were less phlegmatic. "I'd just like to get hold of the guy," said Marshall Wilson, whose brother was supposedly cremated. Tim Mason's father was the first to be identified. "I mean I can see getting a few days behind," Mr Mason said. "But months? Years? I just can't imagine anyone doing that." His wife, Neva, said: "I don't know which is worse, him dying or this."
There was said to be no smell from the grounds, possibly because most of the crematorium's business came from the two neighbouring states and the law makes it compulsory for bodies being transported across state lines to be embalmed first.
A state of emergency was declared for the area, as officials began excavation work that they estimate could last weeks or months. They fear many more bodies could be at the bottom of a nearby lake.
Officials have set up a morgue at the site, believing it could finally yield several hundred bodies.
Mr Bankhead described seeing boxes around the grounds, lying on piles of junk, with bodies inside them. Close by were body parts strewn around: "A skull to your right, a leg bone to your left, a rib cage not too many feet away," he said.
Callers to the crematorium yesterday were met with a terse message: "Please refer any calls to the Walker County sheriff's department."
The case comes a few months after a funeral company in Florida was accused of digging up bodies and dumping them in nearby woods to make room for new burials.
