Cook County officials have identified 11 of the 56 people whose remains were found on Thursday decomposing inside a Chicago funeral home, authorities said Monday.
Natalia Dervevyanny, the representative for the medical examiner’s office, warned that it would be a dayslong process to identify all the bodies. Their discovery Thursday drew a wave of international headlines and immediate scrutiny for the owners of the South Deering funeral home, who also operated a south suburban crematory that was shut down in March 2025 after the remains of more than 100 bodies were found improperly stored there. It has also kicked off a regulatory blame game as officials from several agencies around the city and state try to understand what happened and what systems failed.
According to a statement from the Cook County medical examiner’s office, all but one of the families for the people identified so far have been notified.
The medical examiner’s office is also storing another 56 sets of cremated remains found inside South Chicago Chapel along with the corpses while Chicago police locate next of kin for those remains, the statement said.
Trevor Davies, president of the Illinois Funeral Directors Association, called the discovery “deeply disturbing” and “heartbreaking” in a social media statement Saturday afternoon. Davies said the association supports a “thorough investigation by the appropriate authorities” and asked those responsible to “be held accountable.”
“The circumstances being reported are unacceptable and do not represent the standards, ethics, or values of the funeral service profession in Illinois,” Davies said. “Funeral directors are entrusted with families at one of the most vulnerable moments of their lives. With that trust comes an extraordinary responsibility, one that must never be taken lightly.”
South Chicago Chapel remains closed. The medical examiner’s office announced Friday that it would be handling cremation services at no cost to families, should they choose that option. The office also stated that families would have the opportunity to work with a funeral home of their choice to make final arrangements.
Anyone whose loved one was at the South Chicago Chapel should contact the medical examiner’s office by emailing meofamilyservices@cookcountyil.gov with their contact information, relationship to the decedent and that person’s name, date of birth and date of death. The office will confirm identifications and ensure proper paperwork is filed before releasing the remains back to family.