A crematorium manager has been arrested by US police after the discovery of up to 80 corpses hidden around the facility in Georgia. Twenty eight-year-old Ray Brent Marsh has been charged on five counts of theft by deception.
A woman walking her dog in the town of Noble reported finding a skull near the crematorium on Friday. Further investigations uncovered dozens of bodies stored in sheds and scattered in woods behind the main building.
Local reports suggest that hundreds of bodies dating from as far back as two decades could be found. The Atlanta Herald-Constitution newspaper reports that some bodies had been at the site for just a few days and were still dressed in funeral clothes. Others were so old that they had become mummified.
The crematorium's furnace had broken down several years ago and the owners could not afford repairs. Instead of receiving cremated ashes of deceased relatives, families actually were given a mixture of burned wood chips and dirt.
The crematorium is owned by Ray and Clara Marsh, who are the parents of the arrested manager. They have not been charged with any offence. A makeshift morgue has been set up on the site. Newer bodies have been moved to a nearby site where families could identify the remains.
