{"id":10366,"date":"2020-06-30T09:45:51","date_gmt":"2020-06-30T13:45:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.talkdeath.com\/?p=10366"},"modified":"2022-12-19T10:28:00","modified_gmt":"2022-12-19T15:28:00","slug":"this-is-what-happens-to-unclaimed-bodies-in-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/talkdeath.com\/this-is-what-happens-to-unclaimed-bodies-in-america\/","title":{"rendered":"This is What Happens to Unclaimed Bodies in America"},"content":{"rendered":"

Caitlin Doughty from Ask a Mortician recently posted <\/span>a video about Peter Stefan<\/span><\/a> and the scandal surrounding his funeral home. Stefan, a funeral director from Worcester, MA, had his license suspended in 2019 when authorities found nearly a dozen decomposing and unidentified bodies in his possession (note: Stefan\u2019s <\/span>license was reinstated<\/span><\/a> in early 2020). Doughty\u2019s video highlights an important issue: how should we handle abandoned, indigent, and unclaimed bodies in America, many of which languish in morgues for weeks or months?<\/span><\/p>\n

With the influx of deaths caused by the novel coronavirus, important questions about how we store the dead in times of crisis have been pushed into the spotlight.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The reality is that beyond this crisis, morgues, medical and private facilities, along with funeral homes, will often keep unclaimed bodies in storage until they can be cremated and buried in mass graves.<\/span><\/p>\n