More than 50 decomposing bodies were discovered in a Far South Side funeral home, prompting Chicago officials to launch an investigation.
Its funeral director’s license was suspended after state officials discovered decomposing bodies in “deplorable conditions” with mouse and maggot infestations.
On Thursday evening, Chicago police were spotted entering and exiting the South Chicago Chapel, located at the corner of 95th Street and Exchange Avenue.
A Chicago Police Department representative referred queries to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office, which verified receiving notification from municipal and state officials concerning bodies improperly stored at the funeral parlor.
According to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office, detectives and forensic pathologists who went to the facility “found more than 50 decedents in various states of decomposition at this time.”
The medical examiner’s office stated that detectives were still examining the bodies’ states and hunting for documentation to identify them, including death certificates, which may take several days.
According to records from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, the state suspended funeral director Johanna Morgan’s license after determining that the facility’s “continued practice is a danger to the public safety, interest, and welfare.”
Records indicate that Morgan was “allowing multiple decedents to be kept in an unrefrigerated area with deplorable conditions, including rodent infestation, causing decomposition and maggot infestation of the bodies.”
Morgan was the funeral director at South Chicago Chapel until May 2025, but current records do not indicate whether she was still there as of Thursday.
A neighbor, identified only as “V,” has resided behind South Chicago Chapel for a year and reports a strange scent. It just always stinks. “It’s really bad,” she said. “I’m not sure, like a dead mouse.” “It stinks.”
Another neighbor reported that the odor has persisted. “I have a 3-year-old, and I live right next door,” neighbor Valkiery Velez told CBS News Chicago. “I stayed there for about a year and could smell it the entire time.”
On Thursday evening, Emmanuel Funeral Home & Cremation Services staff arrived at South Chicago Chapel to recover a body, ignorant of the ongoing inquiry. The crew reported contacting South Chicago Chapel but not receiving a response. We stopped by to get someone. Pastor Christopher Jennings said, “We don’t know what’s going on right now.” “We called them the first time; they answered, spoke with us, and said they’d call us back. Following that, there was no call. We continued phoning, so we decided to conduct a wellness check to determine what was going on, and this is what we found.”
According to the Illinois Secretary of State’s website, Johanna Morgan’s husband, Clark Morgan, is listed as president of South Chicago Chapel on its active business license.
The funeral home’s owners did not return messages left by CBS News Chicago.
Clark Morgan previously owned and operated Heights Crematory in Chicago Heights, which was closed last year after being accused of mishandling the bodies of recently deceased individuals.
The crematorium agreed to close its doors amid an investigation by the Illinois State Comptroller’s office, which oversees the cremation sector.
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