*Warning-sick story*- unburied bodies in GA

[hermes]

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/internatio...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.

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

I dont even know what to say to this, but I just saw some stuff on the news earlier about it.

Those poor families.

[~LadyLemon~]

That is really disturbing--what a fucking quack.

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Show a little faith
There's magic in the night

[Angela Harlem]

My God, thats sickening. All those families.

For years people have wondered about unscrupulous funeral staff who practice things like grave stacking and stealing the brass off the coffinse after everyone leaves, as well as stealing any valuables the family may want buried.

But this is something else all together.

[joyfulgirl]

Having just had a friend cremated a few months ago, I can't imagine learning that his ashes are cement.

[elevatedmole]

This story has been replayed and replayed and replayed on our TV stations in my state -- and I am in the midwest! It is so amazingly creepy and disgusting. Ugh.

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"Very strange looking object you have at the end of your stick.." - Bono

"Bono looks too intense for me." - Rollercoaster Tycoon park guest

"I was drunk, high on him, a shrinking, shadowboxing dwarf following in his foosteps...badly...STARSTRUCK.." - Bono, on meeting Frank Sinatra for the first time

"Bono? Bono is going to tie ropes around my neck? Wait a minute.." - Edge, when shooting the 'Numb' video

[Judah]

I feel for the people who have to revisit the death of their loved ones all over again.

I was thinking of getting cremated when i died, but now you can't trust anyone. I think i'll just get stuffed, and have my family display me in their living room...i could have a martini glass in one hand, and a cigar in my mouth and family members could take me from one house to another, especially on special occasions or parties...

[Lemonite]

Yah.. This thing juse keeps getting worse, apparently they've found upwards of three Hundred.. and they're saying there's more.. In a Lake, in a river bed.. Geezus... This is amazingly disgusting of the Crematorium Runner...

L.Unplugged

[adam's_mistress]

Originally posted by Judah:
I think i'll just get stuffed, and have my family display me in their living room...i could have a martini glass in one hand, and a cigar in my mouth and family members could take me from one house to another, especially on special occasions or parties...

Kind of like the movie "Weekend at Bernie's"

Well, what happened (or didn't happen) at the crematorium is an absolute nightmare for those families who have to revisit the death of their loved ones all over again. It brings back so many painful memories of a person's death and a burial or cremation should add closure for those families. It's just so sad that because of the crematorium's negligence, these deaths are going to be dragged out foir god knows how long. Years I suppose. My great uncle who passed away years ago was supposed to be buried next to his deceased wife. Instead he was buried in a different plot while someone (who died at the exact same age and who had the exact same name) was buried where my uncle was intentionally meant rest in peace. About 6 months after the burial, my mother gets a call from some relatives of the other deceased man, and they all get on the horn with the funeral home. It turned out the body swap, although accidental, did indeed happen. Finally 7 months after the deaths and burials of both men, the bodies were exhumed and situated in their rightful places. Then, for legal purposes, my mother had to witness her dead uncle being exhumed, then reburied next to his wife. It was very painful for my mother to go through this - but she tried to look at the situation in a light hearted way. When her uncle was alive, he loved to pack up his house and move every couple of years. He was a humorous man who had a terrible case of wanderlust. He was always on the go. He never lived in the same place for more than 3 years - he loved to travel, and he loved to move. He loved change and moving was kind of a hobby of his, bless his heart. The family thought he was nuts, but my great uncle, well, he just loved a change in his surroundings every now and again. Maybe it's irony or just plain coicidence, but thinking that my uncle had the final word at his own burial made the situation my mother had to endure a lot easier. Just thought I'd share...



[This message has been edited by adam's_mistress (edited 02-22-2002).]

[joyfulgirl]

Thanks for sharing that story, adam's_mistress. I really like your mother's take on it. Having just recently lost my closest friend (who would have been 43 today ) I am touched by these kinds of stories, how people cope with loss, and I've learned that humor can be the most healing part of the experience. We (me and my friend's partner) still haven't found an urn for the ashes yet and find ourselves looking at things like Frosty the Snowman cookie jars and wondering, "Hmm...would he be happy in Frosty? Maybe we could get seasonal cookie jars for him?" I suppose some would find that disrespectful, but for us it really reflects our friend's completely wild and, often irreverant humor, and lessens the pain. People loved him for his humor--it's the first thing people say about him in commenting on how they miss him--and a week before he died, he said of his own ashes, "Oh, just throw 'em out with the garbage one morning."

[sulawesigirl4]

*hugs joyfulgirl* I am sorry for your loss.

[joyfulgirl]

Thank you, sula.

[Lilly]

I heard it on the news a couple of days ago. They keep upping the number of people they found. What is it now? 135? Something sick like that.

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90% lazy. 10% something else.

Judoooooooo Chop!

[Lemonite]

Yes.. I just wanted to say initially, I was disgusted, after a bit of time I was horrified, and still I'm just Expediently Appalled... I just can't believe this.. I mean, who does that?

L.Unplugged