What to Know
When residents of the Deering Neighborhood on the Far South Side of Chicago began noticing a foul smell coming from an area funeral home, they wanted answers. On August 6, 2026, officers from the Chicago Police Department and the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office made a horrific discovery inside the South Chicago Chapel funeral home at 2939 E. 95th St.
Officials found more than 50 bodies inside the facility, improperly stored and in varying stages of decomposition. Authorities must now identify the bodies and reunite them with their families. They also will begin investigating the funeral home’s owners, Clark and Johanna Morgan.
Officials promptly announced plans for affected families.
The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office announced it would help to reunite families of individuals who used the South Chicago Chapel for a loved one’s funeral. It could take several days to properly identify the bodies, per the medical examiner.
“The MEO will contact family members to make final arrangements after their loved one has been positively identified. The MEO will handle the cremation of decedents at no cost for all families who choose that option. Families will also have the opportunity to work with a funeral home of their choice to make final arrangements,” MEO shared in a news release.
The news left many family members shaken.
Per ABC7, several vans showed up at the funeral home on August 7 to transport the bodies to a different location for identification. Neighbors complained to the news outlet about a foul odor emanating from the business.
“Oh man, it’s awful,” next door neighbor Valkiery Velez said. “I’ve lived here for about a year, and I could smell it this entire year. It’s like dead rodents, dead animals; you can smell it, yeah.”
Others grieved, unsure of what’s happened to their loved ones. Patrice Halliburon said her sister, Melody, was to be cremated by South Chicago Chapel. Her sister died in May, and family held her funeral in June. The news of what police found broke her heart.
“I have no idea how something like this could happen,” Haliburton said. “I have no idea how someone’s conscience could allow something like this to happen. There are no words, and I’m really concerned about my niece and my nephews because this is their mom. And they don’t know, and for them to have an urn and they don’t know who is there, if that is really their mom, this is a really difficult time for them.”
The Morgan family had issues with a regulatory board prior to the horrific findings.
Per ABC 7, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation reportedly removed Clark Morgan’s license in 2024. In 2025, officials reportedly shut down another mortuary owned by Clark Morgan when they found more than 100 bodies improperly stored. The agency suspended Johanna Morgan’s license on August 5, but that wasn’t the first time. Per court records, she allegedly allowed “multiple decedents to be kept in an unrefrigerated area with deplorable conditions including rodent infestation, causing decomposition and maggot infestation of the bodies.”
Officials vowed to work with law enforcement to ensure justice for victims.
IDFPR Secretary Mario Treto, Jr. shared his commitment to the victims’ families in a statement on social media.
“Our hearts are with the families whose loved ones were affected by the disturbing circumstances uncovered at the South Chicago Chapel funeral home. Every family deserves the assurance that their loved one will be treated with dignity, care, and respect. Any breach of that trust is deeply troubling,” he wrote.
