Sisters have doubts about cremated remains and wonder, ‘Where is my mama?’

Months ago, Shawnese Shannon’s family mourned her death and celebrated her life in a sea of purple.

She loved Prince’s “Purple Rain” and had asked her family and friends to wear her favorite color. But recently, the memory of that celebration turned to doubt and sorrow. Shannon’s family is questioning whether the remains inside the urn she’d picked herself are hers and even whether the contents are ashes at all.

When sisters Franquella and Marshawna Campbell learned that the man who had picked up their mother’s body from hospice had been accused of mishandling human remains, they turned to the urn sitting on the table in their mother’s living room.

They opened it and began to question everything.

“Where is my mama?” Franquella Campbell, 40, asked over and over.

The state shut down South Chicago Chapel earlier this month after receiving a tip that owners Clark and Johanna Morgan were improperly storing bodies. Inside the funeral home, investigators found 56 bodies in various stages of decomposition. For months neighbors complained about the smell coming from the building. It wasn’t the first time the couple was accused of mishandling remains. Last year, a Chicago Heights Crematory owned by the Morgans was shut down.

Since then, the Campbells are among the many families trying to get answers about what happened to their loved ones’ bodies after they were handed over to Clark Morgan.

Most of the bodies have been identified and families have been notified, but the Campbells might never get that call. They might have their mother’s remains, but now they’re not sure.

“It’s like a missing person’s case,” whispered Marshawna Campbell, 31, through her tears. “We know she’s gone, but we don’t know where.”

A family failed by the system

Despite her affinity for Pepsi and cigarettes, Shannon, 60, was healthy for most of her life, say her daughters. She was a hard worker who hated calling off from her job as a supervisor at an Amazon warehouse, where her daughters said she was well-liked and popular among co-workers.

So it was a shock when she was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma, a rare and aggressive cancer that forms in the bile duct.

Shannon first sought medical care after experiencing frequent stomach pains and losing her sense of taste. Doctors prescribed antibiotics, but they didn’t help, and she was sent home several times from her local clinic. When the pain became unbearable, she went to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with cancer on July 27, 2025.

“That’s when everything started going downhill,” Franquella Campbell said.

The cancer was advanced, and Shannon needed chemotherapy, but treatment was taking too long to start. She eventually went to another hospital, where doctors were able to begin chemotherapy sooner.

Then came problems with her disability insurance. Shannon was on short-term disability. When it ran out, her insurance coverage was cut off because she had not yet returned to work. Her family made frequent calls to the insurance company before she was approved for long-term disability.

But by then, the cancer had spread to other parts of her body, and Shannon would not recover.

“I just feel like they set my mama up for failure,” Franquella Campbell said.

A nightmare for a family grieving

The Campbell sisters said their mother died at peace.

It was Shannon’s choice to spend her last days in hospice. “She was tired,” Marshawna Campbell said.

She died on April 13 surrounded by her family.

Her daughters said Shannon wanted to be cremated and asked that her celebration of life be a “purple party.”

Their mother wouldn’t have wanted them to spend a fortune on her cremation, so the sisters chose Planet Green Cremations, a more affordable crematory recommended by hospice staff.

Then, the nightmare began.

Clark Morgan picked up Shannon’s body from the hospice and took it to South Chicago Chapel without informing her family. They didn’t realize the Morgans owned both businesses.

The cremation certificate said Shannon was cremated April 28 at Bohemian National Cemetery, another crematory under investigation for the improper storage of human remains.

But when Marshawna called Planet Green on May 4, she said they were told their mother had not yet been cremated. Finally, three days later, the sisters were able to pick up the remains.

When news broke about the conditions at South Chicago Chapel, the Campbell sisters said they realized the businesses were connected. They began questioning whether the remains they had been given were actually those of their mother.

When they opened the urn, what they found inside only deepened their suspicions. They had never seen cremated remains look like the chunks of white substance, they said.

Doubting what was in the urn, they visited the Cook County medical examiner’s office to ask whether their mother was among the bodies recovered from the shuttered funeral home, but officials told them they were still working to identify the remains.

The sisters want what’s inside their mother’s urn tested, but the medical examiner’s office said they don’t have the tools to test cremains.

“While there are extremely rare cases where DNA can be extracted from cremated remains, generally, it is not possible due to the high heat and grinding used in the cremation process,” the office said.

The medical examiner’s office said they’ve identified 49 of the 56 bodies, and 46 of the families had been notified. Since that visit, the Campbells have not been among the families whose loved ones have been identified.

Regrets and a fight for justice

The family said they are haunted by thoughts of what Shannon’s body may have gone through after it was placed in the hands of the Morgans.

Tim Shannon, Shannon’s younger brother, said it was difficult to comprehend that the remains of the sister who raised him and loved him could have been treated so carelessly.

“And there’s nothing I can do about it,” said Tim Shannon, 53.

The Campbell sisters said they’re angry that while families are suffering and are forced to restart the grieving after losing their loved ones, the Morgans are allowed to continue living their lives.

The sisters said they saw Clark Morgan enter South Chicago Chapel last week, and they called Chicago Police.

A spokesperson for the Department of Buildings said the closure of the building “does not prohibit the owner from entering their own building.” It only prohibits the building from being used as a funeral home.

A representative for the Morgans and South Chicago Chapel could not be reached.

Members of Shannon’s family said they just want justice for her.

“My mama would never give up on any of us, so we aren’t giving up on her,” Franquella Campbell said.

The Campbell sisters have hired an attorney, hoping he will help them find their mother and hold those responsible accountable.

Shawn Barnett of Hale Law said his office will help the sisters investigate what happened to Shannon’s remains. If it is determined that the Morgans failed to properly cremate her, they could face allegations of negligence or fraud.

“Like the Campbells, there are many families who are now wondering if cremated ashes they have are their family members,” Barnett said.

The family said they are battling regret over hiring the Morgans. They said they won’t rest until they find Shannon’s remains and can finally lay her to rest.

“I feel like I failed her,” Franquella Campbell said. “This was her final resting place, and I failed her.”