Unclaimed Bodies Pile Up at LA Morgues

Los Angeles (myFOXla.com) - As a result of the poor economy, bodies in increasing numbers are going unclaimed by Los Angeles County families who cannot afford to bury or cremate their loved ones, it was reported today.

At the county coroner's office, which handles homicides and other suspicious deaths, 36 percent more cremations were done at taxpayers' expense in the last fiscal year over the previous year, from 525 to 712, the Los Angeles times reported.

The county morgue, which is responsible for the indigent and others who go unclaimed, saw a 25 percent increase in cremations in the first half of this year over the same period a year ago, rising to 680 from 545, according to the newspaper.

The demands on the county crematorium have been so high that earlier this year, officials there stopped accepting bodies from the coroner. The coroner's office since has contracted with two private crematories for $135,000 to handle the overflow.

"It's a pretty dramatic increase," Lt. David Smith, a coroner's investigator, told the Times. "the families just tell us flat-out they don't have the money to do a funeral."

Once the county cremates an unclaimed body -- typically about a month after death -- next of kin can pay the coroner $352 to receive the ashes. The fee for claiming ashes from the morgue is $466.

Coroners and funeral directors around the country say they are seeing the same trend as cash-strapped families cope with funeral costs. Just claiming a body from the L.A. County coroner costs $200. Once a body is claimed, private cremations usually run close to $1,000, Smith told The Times.

Funeral homes charge an average of $7,300 to transport and bury a body in a simple grave, according to the National Funeral Home Directors Association.