A south suburban cremation business owned by a couple under investigation for mishandling human remains was searched as part of a “follow-up” investigation by Chicago police on Thursday.
Planet Green Cremations in Glenwood is a storefront that contracted cremation services for families and is owned by Clark and Johanna Morgan. Chicago police officers and Area 2 detectives executed a search warrant at the business, 319 E. Glenwood Lansing Rd., Thursday as part of a “follow-up investigation.”
Chicago police did not say what was found inside the business but officers were seen carrying out several boxes.
The couple is under investigation after 56 bodies were discovered in various stages of decomposition last month at South Chicago Chapel on the city’s Far South Side. The state shut down the funeral home on Aug. 6 after receiving a tip that the Morgans were improperly storing bodies.
Planet Green Cremations was not actually a crematory, according to Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza’s office. Instead, the Morgans used the business to arrange for cremations through a third party. Families would then pick up their loved ones’ cremated remains at Planet Green.
Mendoza’s office said the “storefronts” are not regulated by the state but are required to have a licensed funeral director on staff or under contract to oversee the removal of bodies, prepare death certificates and organize transportation to a cemetery or crematory.
Planet Green often arranged for cremations to be done by Bohemian National Cemetery, on Chicago’s Northwest Side, another crematory under investigation for the improper storage of human remains.
Mendoza’s office said at least 22 out of 35 bodies discovered at Bohemian “involved the Morgans in some way” – 10 came from South Chicago Chapel and 12 from Planet Green.
Last year, Mendoza’s office shut down another of the Morgans’ businesses, Heights Crematory in south suburban Chicago Heights, after finding that the couple had mishandled human remains.
While Mendoza’s office oversees crematories, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation licenses funeral directors and embalmers.
After shutting down the Chicago Heights business, Mendoza’s office said it “urged” the IDFPR to revoke Johanna Morgan’s funeral director’s license. The office also said it turned its findings over to law enforcement “in hopes of criminal charges being filed against the Morgans.”
Also Thursday, a Cook County judge ordered another inspection of South Chicago Chapel and barred the Morgans from using, renting or leasing the funeral home at 2939 E. 95th St.
Judge Federico Rodriguez made the orders during a hearing at the Richard J. Daley Center after the city sued the Morgans over alleged building code violations at the now-shuttered South Deering business.
City attorneys said the building has not been inspected since the initial inspection, which followed the discovery of the bodies. The city wants the new inspection to take place Oct. 23 and include an examination of the building’s interior.
Rodriguez ordered the Morgans to be present in person for the inspection.
