Authorities recovered more than 40 bodies in varying states of decomposition from a funeral home on Chicago’s Southeast Side on Thursday, according to law enforcement sources involved in the investigation. The discovery took place at the South Chicago Chapel, located in the 2900 block of East 95th Street in the South Deering neighborhood.
The investigation began after authorities received a tip prompting them to inspect the facility. Police officers from the South Chicago District (4th) accompanied city officials to the site. By Thursday evening, police had blocked off 95th Street between South Escanaba Avenue and South Commercial Avenue. Several law enforcement sergeants and representatives from the city’s Department of Buildings were present at the scene. The two rear doors of the funeral home remained open during this time.
A spokesperson for the Chicago Police Department referred inquiries to the Cook County medical examiner’s office, which has yet to release further information. An Illinois State Police spokeswoman did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Local residents reported noticing a strong, unpleasant odor resembling a decaying animal emanating intermittently from the area for approximately two months. Neighbors Janice Skylas and Maria Paniagua, who have lived nearby for decades, observed ongoing activity at the funeral home. Skylas said the business had staged a funeral as recently as last week and estimated it had been in operation for a couple of years. Both women recalled frequent funeral traffic lining South Exchange Avenue but had never entered the facility. Paniagua mentioned detecting the smell once but generally had not suspected any issues. Skylas noted seeing new white gravel laid outside the property a few weeks prior and expressed concern about the upkeep of the building.
The developments at South Chicago Chapel add to Chicago’s long-standing challenges involving funeral homes and mortuary practices. In 2025, authorities shut down a funeral home in Chicago Heights after uncovering more than 100 improperly stored bodies. The owner was also found to be operating without a funeral director’s license, and the case led to over 20 lawsuits, which have since been consolidated into a single ongoing legal proceeding.
The area’s troubled history also includes the 2009 revelation at Burr Oak Cemetery, where workers were found to have resold graves and discarded hundreds of human remains in an abandoned lot. Burr Oak, significant within Chicago’s Black community as the city’s first cemetery to allow African American burials, is the final resting place of notable figures such as Emmett Till and Dinah Washington. The former director was later sentenced to 12 years in prison for her involvement.
Similar cases have emerged outside Chicago. In the United Kingdom in 2024, a funeral director received a 20-year prison sentence after authorities found nearly 35 bodies and over 100 sets of ashes improperly handled at a funeral home in Hull. In the United States, recent convictions in Colorado involved funeral home operators sentenced to lengthy prison terms for mishandling remains, defrauding customers, and selling body parts without consent.
Investigations into the South Chicago Chapel case are ongoing, and officials have yet to provide further details about the condition of the remains or any potential charges.