mojo
02-17-2002, 02:33 PM
http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/news/ap/ap_story.html/National/AP.V0540.AP-Corpses-Discove.html
Corpses Found Outside Ga. Crematory
By KRISTEN WYATT
Associated Press Writer
NOBLE, Ga. (AP)--Dozens of decomposing corpses were found stacked in storage sheds and scattered in woods outside a crematory, and authorities arrested the operator. Some of the bodies were in coffins that appeared to have been buried and disinterred.
When investigators asked 28-year-old Ray Brent Marsh why the bodies weren't cremated, he told them the crematory incinerator wasn't working, Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman John Bankhead said.
``The worst horror movie you've ever seen--imagine that 10 times worse,'' Walker County Coroner Dewayne Wilson said. ``That is what I'm dealing with.''
Officials said the number of bodies found could be in the hundreds. They broke off the search of the woods Saturday night and planned to resume Sunday morning.
``All we know for sure right now are the 80 bodies, and 13 of those have been identified,'' Bankhead said. ``But they've found so many other partial skeletal remains and evidence of graves, we don't know how many more are out there.''
Bankhead said some of the bodies were found in rusty coffins, some of which could be up to ten 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,'' he said. ``We don't know why that is.''
Some of the bodies had been delivered to the Tri-State Crematory within the last few days, and some bore hospital toe tags, Bankhead said. Others had apparently been there for as long as three years, authorities said.
Between 25 and 30 funeral homes in Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama rountinely sent bodies to Tri-State for cremation, Bankhead said.
Brent Marsh was charged with theft by deception, a felony, because he allegedly charged relatives to cremate the bodies without doing so.
The crematory owners, Ray and Clara Marsh, left the business in the hands of their son in 1996. They turned over their records to authorities and were cooperating, Walker County chief deputy Hill Morrison said.
Sheriff Steve Wilson said the owners told authorities the crematory had not been in operation, but there was no word on how long.
Gov. Roy Barnes declared a state of emergency in Walker County, which is near the Alabama and Tennessee state lines. The state of emergency allows local authorities to use state resources.
Georgia chief medical examiner Chris Sperry said authorities suspect Brent Marsh may have provided ashes from wood chips to clients who asked for their loved ones' ashes.
Tim Mason said his father, who died in December, was the first body to be identified. The body has been sent to a funeral home for cremation, he said.
``I just can't imagine,'' said Mason, 53, of La Fayette. ``I mean I can see ... getting a few days behind, (but) months, years? I just can't imagine anyone doing that. I'm real disappointed, that's for sure.''
Mason said his mother died in 1995 and her body was sent to Tri-State Crematory. Mason said he hopes her body was cremated and will not be discovered.
A call to the crematory Saturday was not immediately returned. A recording directed callers to the Walker County sheriff's office.
Thomas Ware, who has been living in a nearby house he rents from the Marsh family for about six years, said he never noticed any smells or other signs that bodies were not being handled properly.
Ware, who had Clara Marsh as his ninth-grade teacher, said his uncle died about two years ago and was sent to Tri-State for cremation. He said he is worried she was never cremated.
``Somebody better be going to jail,'' said Ware's girlfried, Britt Simmons. ``You just would never think something like this could happen here. It's a little bitty town. But anywhere this happened it would be horrible.''
Authorities set up a morgue at the site to begin sifting through the corpses and trying to identify them. Bankhead said it might be impossible to identify some of the bodies.
The discoveries began Friday when a woman walking her dog found a skull. Within hours, investigators had found three dozen corpses, some of them stacked next to tools in storage sheds.
In November, a resident reported finding a body part in woods nearby, the sheriff said. Deputies searched the area but found nothing suspicious.
Noble is about 85 miles northwest of Atlanta.
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:disa: so much for honoring the dead. just think how many people will never know whether or not their loved ones are in that urn.
Corpses Found Outside Ga. Crematory
By KRISTEN WYATT
Associated Press Writer
NOBLE, Ga. (AP)--Dozens of decomposing corpses were found stacked in storage sheds and scattered in woods outside a crematory, and authorities arrested the operator. Some of the bodies were in coffins that appeared to have been buried and disinterred.
When investigators asked 28-year-old Ray Brent Marsh why the bodies weren't cremated, he told them the crematory incinerator wasn't working, Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman John Bankhead said.
``The worst horror movie you've ever seen--imagine that 10 times worse,'' Walker County Coroner Dewayne Wilson said. ``That is what I'm dealing with.''
Officials said the number of bodies found could be in the hundreds. They broke off the search of the woods Saturday night and planned to resume Sunday morning.
``All we know for sure right now are the 80 bodies, and 13 of those have been identified,'' Bankhead said. ``But they've found so many other partial skeletal remains and evidence of graves, we don't know how many more are out there.''
Bankhead said some of the bodies were found in rusty coffins, some of which could be up to ten 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,'' he said. ``We don't know why that is.''
Some of the bodies had been delivered to the Tri-State Crematory within the last few days, and some bore hospital toe tags, Bankhead said. Others had apparently been there for as long as three years, authorities said.
Between 25 and 30 funeral homes in Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama rountinely sent bodies to Tri-State for cremation, Bankhead said.
Brent Marsh was charged with theft by deception, a felony, because he allegedly charged relatives to cremate the bodies without doing so.
The crematory owners, Ray and Clara Marsh, left the business in the hands of their son in 1996. They turned over their records to authorities and were cooperating, Walker County chief deputy Hill Morrison said.
Sheriff Steve Wilson said the owners told authorities the crematory had not been in operation, but there was no word on how long.
Gov. Roy Barnes declared a state of emergency in Walker County, which is near the Alabama and Tennessee state lines. The state of emergency allows local authorities to use state resources.
Georgia chief medical examiner Chris Sperry said authorities suspect Brent Marsh may have provided ashes from wood chips to clients who asked for their loved ones' ashes.
Tim Mason said his father, who died in December, was the first body to be identified. The body has been sent to a funeral home for cremation, he said.
``I just can't imagine,'' said Mason, 53, of La Fayette. ``I mean I can see ... getting a few days behind, (but) months, years? I just can't imagine anyone doing that. I'm real disappointed, that's for sure.''
Mason said his mother died in 1995 and her body was sent to Tri-State Crematory. Mason said he hopes her body was cremated and will not be discovered.
A call to the crematory Saturday was not immediately returned. A recording directed callers to the Walker County sheriff's office.
Thomas Ware, who has been living in a nearby house he rents from the Marsh family for about six years, said he never noticed any smells or other signs that bodies were not being handled properly.
Ware, who had Clara Marsh as his ninth-grade teacher, said his uncle died about two years ago and was sent to Tri-State for cremation. He said he is worried she was never cremated.
``Somebody better be going to jail,'' said Ware's girlfried, Britt Simmons. ``You just would never think something like this could happen here. It's a little bitty town. But anywhere this happened it would be horrible.''
Authorities set up a morgue at the site to begin sifting through the corpses and trying to identify them. Bankhead said it might be impossible to identify some of the bodies.
The discoveries began Friday when a woman walking her dog found a skull. Within hours, investigators had found three dozen corpses, some of them stacked next to tools in storage sheds.
In November, a resident reported finding a body part in woods nearby, the sheriff said. Deputies searched the area but found nothing suspicious.
Noble is about 85 miles northwest of Atlanta.
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:disa: so much for honoring the dead. just think how many people will never know whether or not their loved ones are in that urn.