Chicago police search Illinois cremation business tied to South Chicago funeral home investigation
By Evelyn Holmes, Tre Ward
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GLENWOOD, Illinois (WLS) — Chicago police spent hours searching a south suburban cremation business connected to the owners of a South Chicago funeral home where investigators say more than 50 decomposing bodies were found in August.
Officers carried dozens of boxes out of Planet Green Cremations in Glenwood and loaded them into unmarked Chicago police vehicles. Yellow police tape surrounded the business as officers moved in and out of the property.
Chicago police said Area Two detectives were “conducting a follow-up investigation” at the Glenwood business.
According to the Illinois state comptroller’s office, the Glenwood location is a storefront rather than an actual crematory. It is owned by Johanna Morgan.
Morgan and her husband, Clark Morgan, also own the South Chicago Chapel, where investigators say more than 50 decomposing bodies were found on the property in August.
One of the owners was seen sitting in a vehicle at the other end of the parking lot during the police activity in Glenwood. He drove away as a reporter approached the vehicle.
The police activity brought Franquella Campbell, a former Planet Green customer, back to a loss her family believes the business mishandled.
Campbell’s family believes her mother’s cremation was mishandled and questions whether the ashes the family received in an urn are actually those of her mother.
“I don’t understand why they haven’t been here sooner. All our paperwork say this place. Her name. This place,” Campbell said.
Campbell said her mother told her what she wanted done before she died.
“I had one assignment, one assignment. She told me what to do before she died. Make sure she was okay! She’s not okay. So, I’m not okay,” Campbell said.
Owners absent from court hearing The Glenwood search took place the same day Johanna and Clark Morgan did not appear in court in a lawsuit brought by the city over alleged code violations at their South Chicago funeral home.
Attorneys for the Morgans appeared via Zoom. Also appearing were an attorney for the city, an inspector from the Department of Buildings and the buildings commissioner.
The city requested a preliminary injunction barring the property from being leased, used or occupied. The city also sought an inspection to determine whether the property remains vacant and safe.
The judge granted both requests.
The inspection is scheduled for Oct. 23 from 10 to 11 a.m. The city has requested that the Morgans be present. The preliminary injunction will remain in effect until the next court hearing, scheduled for Oct. 30 at 9:30 a.m.
Marketa Kristofek, who attended the hearing, said she has been grieving over what happened involving her son, Marcus.
“This was a matter that I have been grieving for a while regarding to my son, Marcus,” Kristofek said.
Kristofek’s son died in 2010. She said his remains were neglected by the Chicago Heights Crematorium and the Morgans. Kristofek said she was given a sealed urn but does not believe it contains her son’s remains and thinks the remains could belong to someone else. She said she has found discrepancies in paperwork and has pursued the matter for years.
“We have to have some type of understanding who is regulating these people, that they can move around and continue to move here and there,” Kristofek said.
Prior police encounter involving bodies in minivan The investigation also follows an encounter involving the Morgans and Evergreen Park police in June 2024, about two years before the discovery at the South Chicago funeral home.
Body camera video shows police responding after two bodies were found inside the Morgans’ minivan, which was double-parked outside the couple’s home.
“This car is parked in the street and there’s two bodies inside,” an officer said in the video.
“Yeah we’re funeral directors,” Johanna Morgan responded.
Officers later spoke with the Morgans, whose faces were blurred in the video.
“Guys you’re seriously making a mountain out of a molehill here,” Johanna Morgan told police.
“Ma’am let’s be honest. Like we explained. It looks terrible. We’re letting you give your justification of what’s going but you gotta work with us here. If we roll up on a van parked like that with two body bags in the back, you just expect us to –” an officer responded.
“They’re on stretchers,” Clark and Johanna Morgan said.
“I get it but do you expect us to just be like, ‘You know what? Don’t worry about it,'” the officer replied.
The earlier encounter is now raising questions about whether more could have been done sooner.
The court-ordered inspection of the South Chicago Chapel is scheduled for Oct. 23, ahead of the Morgans’ next court hearing on Oct. 30.
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