Chicago, August 7, 2026
At a funeral home in Chicago, police discovered 57 decomposing bodies that, according to investigators, had been stored partly unrefrigerated and improperly.
Background on the discovery
The discovery became known on Thursday following an inspection of the business. Police officers and staff from the responsible regulatory authorities gained access to the premises and determined that a large number of bodies had been stored under conditions that did not meet industry standards. Some of the bodies had already largely decomposed, according to reports from the responding officers.
According to the Chicago Tribune, which first reported on the case, the finds totaled 57 bodies. The newspaper described the condition of the establishment as macabre and depicted scenes that shook even experienced first responders. City officials confirmed the scale of the discovery to several media outlets.