Chicago officials raised concerns about South Chicago Chapel a year before discovery of 56 decomposing bodies, records show

CHICAGO — Nearly a year before 56 decomposing bodies were found at the South Chicago Chapel, sparking outrage and calls for reform, a Chicago alderperson’s office complained to city officials twice within a week that residents were complaining about odors from the business and noted in the second complaint that the business owner had a history of mishandling human remains.

Yet when a city inspector visited the business two days after the first complaint, he spent 20 minutes on the scene, took a few photos, including one of an empty gurney in the funeral home’s parking lot, dismissed the complaint after he was told that the smell came from a burning garbage can outside — and gave no indication in his 67-word narrative that he tried to go inside, according to the previously unreported document, obtained by Illinois Answers Project and Capitol News Illinois.

Chicago Ald. Peter Chico (10th) told the Chicago Sun-Times earlier this month that the only complaints his office received about South Chicago Chapel prior to the recent discovery of bodies were related to alleged “gang funerals” held at the funeral home.

But new records show his office reported odor complaints and concerns from residents about the facility as early as last September.

On Sept. 26, Chico’s office sent a request to the Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection seeking information about the funeral home’s business license after learning the couple that operated the company, Clark and Johanna Morgan, had run Heights Crematory in Chicago Heights. The state shut down the facility last year after finding 100 improperly stored bodies on the site.

Chico’s office told the city in a 311 complaint: “We have received odor complaints … from residents and were provided with some concerning information regarding the business owner.” The complaint linked to a news segment about the Morgans’ involvement at Heights Crematory.

A BACP spokesperson said the department checked to see whether the funeral home had a license and reported back to Chico’s office that it didn’t, because one would only be required if the funeral home was selling retail goods such as caskets and flowers. There are over 53,000 active business licenses in Chicago, including more than 80 for funeral-related enterprises.

Agency records show the inquiry was marked as “Completed” within seven minutes of being opened.

The city did not refer Chico’s concern about the Morgans to the state agency that regulates funeral homes —the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, or IDFPR. Asked whether the city should have referred the concern to IDFPR, the BACP spokesperson noted, “when the alderman reached out to BACP, we responded.”

The BACP also did not then investigate whether funeral products were being sold without a license at the facility, because such an investigation would first require a complaint, which the alderperson’s office did not submit. It later conducted a review to confirm it did not need a business license at the time Chicago police, acting on a tip, discovered decomposing bodies at the site this August.

Chico’s office declined to comment on whether they contacted other state agencies with their concerns or took any steps to shut down the funeral home.

Chico previously told Block Club Chicago that he was aware of the Morgans’ ownership of the troubled Heights Crematory and South Chicago Chapel before the raid in August but he said he couldn’t remember whether they were discussed at a community meeting he helped organize in March to discuss the funeral home.

The new records raise questions about how the Morgans were able to mishandle human remains at multiple locations while allegedly under scrutiny by state and local officials. State officials have been quick to point fingers and sidestep accountability for the regulatory environment that allowed the Morgans to continue mishandling human remains, with Gov. JB Pritzker blaming “bad actors” at the funeral home.

“What I have read so far is an indicator that there is somebody, it’s not IDFPR (the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation), it’s somebody on the ground at this funeral home, some people who have been doing terrible things,” Pritzker said.

An attorney representing the Morgans, who are being sued for mishandling remains at both facilities, declined to comment.

Unidentified remains

A Cook County spokesperson said that nine of the 56 bodies found at South Chicago Chapel remained unidentified as of Friday afternoon.

She said they are trying to identify the remaining bodies using records for medical device implants and dental work. The earliest date of death they could trace was April 19, 2026.

A state law, the Illinois’ Integrity in Death Care Act, took effect at the start of last year and  tightened regulations around the ‘chain of custody’ of human remains by requiring funeral establishments to maintain a system for correct identification of human remains when they are in the facility’s possession.

The bill was ushered through the state General Assembly after the discovery of extensive mishandling of bodies at a Carlinville funeral home, where at least 80 families were given the wrong remains. IDFPR allowed the funeral home director to continue operating for at least six months after it received a complaint about decomposing bodies in his care, revoking his license only after a local coroner went public with concerns.

Read more: For at least 6 months, state failed to act on Carlinville funeral director that mishandled remains | Misdeeds by Carlinville funeral home director spur legislative proposals

At the South Chicago Chapel, none of the remains from South Chicago Chapel had tags listing the decedents’ full name and date of birth or other unique identifiers, though some had funeral home or hospital tags. Many had to be identified using fingerprints, according to the medical examiner’s spokesperson.

IDFPR records show that the bodies were “kept in an unrefrigerated area with deplorable conditions including rodent infestation, causing decomposition and maggot infestation of the bodies.”

While state law requires crematories to maintain bodies in refrigerated conditions, the same is not true for funeral homes, which are expected to preserve bodies through embalming or cooling, or hold funerals in a timely manner.

IDFPR revoked Clark Morgan’s funeral director and embalmer intern license in 2024, and temporarily suspended Johanna Morgan’s funeral director and embalmer license earlier this month after the discovery.

The Morgans have not been charged criminally, though an Illinois State Police spokesperson said an investigation of the conduct at Heights Crematory is ongoing after Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke initially declined to bring charges in the case. Chicago Police said it is conducting an independent investigation regarding the Morgans’ handling of bodies at South Chicago Chapel.

Pointing fingers

Unlike many states, Illinois splits regulations of funeral homes and crematories between two agencies, with IDFPR licensing funeral home directors and embalmers, and the Illinois Comptroller’s office overseeing crematories.

And because IDFPR regulates funeral home directors rather than funeral home establishments, it does not conduct regular inspections of the facilities — it only investigates if complaints are made.

Illinois is one of only four states in the U.S. that does not conduct any regular inspections of licensed funeral homes or crematories, while a majority of other states conduct either annual or biannual inspections, sometimes unannounced, according to a recent review by the Chicago Sun-Times.

IDFPR currently employs four investigators to investigate complaints against funeral home directors and other professions, including a chief who oversees the work. The agency plans to hire one additional investigator this fiscal year.

Michael D. Sharkey is a licensed funeral director in multiple states as well as an attorney who represents Illinois’ Funeral Directors Association and the Funeral Directors Association in Minnesota, a state with less than half the population of Illinois.

He said Minnesota has three full-time funeral home and crematory investigators and recommended that Illinois hire more inspectors, conduct regular unannounced inspections and condense its death care industry oversight under one state agency.

“Good funeral homes don’t worry about inspections because they’re compliant 24/7, 365,” Sharkey said. “It seems to me that in this case, the good people of Illinois deserve better, and that this might be something that is worth budgeting for.”

Garbage dumping

According to city data, the first waste-related complaint against South Chicago Chapel was filed in January 2024. The complaint alleged that food trays, old chairs, furniture, and open bags of piled garbage dumped behind the funeral home were attracting rats.

Another 311 complaint filed in August 2025 alleged that the funeral home garbage can had “dropped all the garbage” on the street and alley.

Ald. Chico’s office filed a 311 complaint alleging “open burning” at the funeral home on Sept. 17, 2025.

Two days later, a Chicago Department of Environment inspector visited the funeral home and called the resident who reported the burning to Chico’s office. The resident informed him that the smell was the result of someone burning his trash can, according to his report. He left 20 minutes later.

A spokesperson for the department said the inspection was sufficient, because the inspector was sent to investigate an open burning complaint, not the funeral home itself.

On Sept. 26, 2025, Chico’s office followed up seeking the business license for the chapel.

The last 311 complaint against the funeral home was filed at 2:39 p.m. on Aug. 6 detailing the grim discovery: Chicago police “found … bodies decaying inside of a closed funeral home.”

Beth Hundsdorfer with CNI contributed reporting.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.