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An investigation was underway at a Far South Side funeral home after more than 50 decomposing bodies were found in the facility.
Its funeral director’s license was suspended when state regulators found decomposing bodies were being kept in “deplorable conditions” that included rodent and maggot infestations.
Chicago police were seen going in and out of South Chicago Chapel, at the corner of 95th Street and Exchange Avenue, on Thursday evening.
A Chicago Police Department spokesperson referred questions to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office, which confirmed it was notified by city and state officials about bodies improperly stored at the funeral home. Investigators 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 said investigators were still assessing the conditions of the bodies and searching for documents to identify them, including death certificates, a process that could take several days.
According to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation records, the state suspended the license of funeral director Johanna Morgan due to a finding that the facility’s “continued practice is a danger to the public safety, interest and welfare.”
Records show Morgan had been “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 funeral director at South Chicago Chapel as late as May of 2025 but it was unclear from current records if she was still funeral director there as of Thursday.
One neighbor, who wanted to be identified only as “V,” said she’s lived directly behind South Chicago Chapel for about a year and has constantly experienced what she describes as a disturbing smell.
“It just, like, stinks all the time. Like, it’s so bad,” she said. “I don’t know, like a dead mouse. Like, it stinks.”
On Thursday evening, staff from Emmanuel Funeral Home & Cremation Services arrived at South Chicago Chapel to retrieve a body, unaware of the investigation. The staff said they had spoken with South Chicago Chapel earlier but had not heard from them since.
“We stopped by to get someone. We don’t know what’s going on at the moment,” Pastor Christopher Jennings said. “We talked to them the first time, they picked up, they talked to us, they said they’d give us a call back. After that, there was no call. We kept calling, so we decided to do a wellness check to see what was going on and this is what we come to.”
According to the Illinois Secretary of State’s website, the active business license of South Chicago Chapel lists Johanna Morgan’s husband, Clark Morgan, as president.
The funeral home’s owners did not respond to messages left by CBS News Chicago.
Clark Morgan previously owned and operated Heights Crematory in Chicago Heights, which was shut down last year, accused of mishandling the bodies of people who had recently died.
The crematory agreed to shut down its operations amid a probe by the Illinois State Comptroller’s office, which regulates the cremation industry.
CBS News Chicago obtained photos from inside a trailer at the crematory where bodies were being stored. The trailer is located on the property belonging to Heights, and the photos show deceased people partially wrapped in sheets or clear plastic bags, with their faces and body parts sticking out.
CBS News Chicago also found bodies in bags moved from another trailer on the site, and there are questions about storage areas without proper refrigeration at the business.
