Chicago police on Friday raided a cremation business tied to the Southeast Side funeral home where authorities in August found 56 decaying corpses.
State business records show that the raided business, Planet Green Cremations in south suburban Glenwood, is owned by Clark and Johanna Morgan, who operated South Chicago Chapel. The discovery of the corpses over the summer — many in deplorable condition —highlighted the regulatory patchwork that apparently allowed the Morgans to continue operating in the death care industry even as lawsuits piled up, one of their crematoriums was shut down, and Clark Morgan was found to have forged his funeral directors’ licensing credential.
A spokesperson for Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza’s office, which oversees crematoriums around the state, referred inquiries about the raid back to Chicago police, noting that the Planet Green business was an unregulated “storefront” for cremations. Calumet Area detectives are leading a criminal investigation. Chicago Police Department representatives described the raid as a “follow-up investigation,” but didn’t say what officers were looking for inside Planet Green.
A lawyer for the Morgan family didn’t immediately return a request for comment on the raid Friday afternoon. But Johanna Morgan’s attorney appeared Monday for a telephonic hearing before an administrative law judge for the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation over her license, which was suspended the day before authorities recovered the corpses at the funeral home.
During the brief hearing, the parties set deadlines for motions and evidence production, even as they said they were also in negotiations for a possible settlement.
If they don’t reach a settlement, the matter would proceed to a formal hearing.
And inside the Richard J. Daley Center in downtown Chicago Thursday morning, Associate Judge Federico Rodriguez granted the city’s request to inspect the funeral home building again during a hearing regarding a city lawsuit against South Chicago Chapel.
More Top Picks Best Fonts For People With Dyslexia And Why
In a complaint filed last month in Cook County Circuit Court, the city alleged a litany of code violations at the funeral home. The complaint alleges, for instance, that the entire funeral home space was constructed without plans or permits.
On Thursday, Rodriguez also granted a preliminary injunction barring the property from being used or rented upon no objections from the Morgans’ attorney, who said the building was already vacant.