A Chicago Heights crematory has been shut down after the Illinois Comptroller’s office received a complaint last month of the facility mishandling human remains, according to the state agency.
Heights Crematory, 230 E. 11th St., faces penalties of up to $5,000 for each violation found during the comptroller’s office’s ongoing investigation and could have its crematory license revoked. It is prohibited from taking on any new cases and is receiving help from the state to process about 100 bodies it had in storage.
“There were bodies sort of stacking up at this crematory,” said Abdon Pallasch, communications director for the comptroller’s office, declining to elaborate on conditions as their investigation continues.
Michael Sharkey of the Illinois Funeral Directors Association said Thursday his group forwarded a complaint they received of poor conditions at Heights Crematory to the comptroller’s office Feb. 18, prompting the state investigation.
“We immediately, that very day, brought the complaint to the regulatory agency with the hope that they would do the right thing,” Sharkey said.
He said Heights Crematory is not a member of the association and its owner, Clark Morgan, is not a licensed funeral director.
“We are all just absolutely horrified by seeing this kind of thing. It besmirches all the good, hard work that funeral directors do every day,” Sharkey said.
Heights Crematory did not respond to messages left by the Daily Southtown seeking comment.
The comptroller’s office said in a statement that since receiving the complaint, regulators have been at the crematory every day it has been open “to process the paperwork needed for cremation of the current cases and to ensure cremation is done according to current industry standards.” As of Wednesday, 23 bodies received before the investigation began were still waiting to be cremated.
“Most of the issues have since been resolved but we are still on site closely monitoring the situation and making sure families have peace of mind about the cremation of their loved ones,” the state agency said.
The comptroller’s office said members of the public can call its pre-need licensing and certification enforcement division at 312-814-2451 to report any concerns about privately owned cemeteries, funeral homes or crematories.
Samantha Moilanen contributed to this report.