Albert Gaskin, caretaker at Evergreen's Cemetery in Los Angeles, looks over the cremated remains of unclaimed bodies. Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times
The weak economy is taking its toll, with an increasing number of bodies in Los Angeles County being cremated at taxpayers' expense.
By Molly Hennessy-Fiske
The poor economy is taking a toll even on the dead, with an increasing number of bodies in Los Angeles County going unclaimed by families who cannot afford to bury or cremate their loved ones.
At the county coroner's office -- which handles homicides and other suspicious deaths -- 36% more cremations were done at taxpayers' expense in the last fiscal year over the previous year, from 525 to 712.
The county morgue, which is responsible for the indigent and others who go unclaimed, saw a 25% increase in cremations in the first half of this year over the same period a year ago, rising to 680 from 545.
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," said Lt. David Smith, a coroner's investigator. "The families just tell us flat-out they don't have the money to do a funeral." ......Click here to continue reading
.......... Carol Hooper, 70, a retired aircraft mechanic, said last week that her son struggled with addiction and had trouble holding down jobs. But, she said, he was also a kind, giving person who made many friends growing up in Redondo Beach. If her granddaughter does not claim the ashes, she will.
"We're not rich; we're retired," Hooper said. "But we'll make it for him." ....[rc]
Copyright 2009 Los Angeles Times
July 21, 2009
USA: More bodies go unclaimed as families can't afford funeral costs
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LOS ANGELES, California / Los Angeles Times / Top News / July 21, 2009
Albert Gaskin, caretaker at Evergreen's Cemetery in Los Angeles, looks over the cremated remains of unclaimed bodies. Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times
The weak economy is taking its toll, with an increasing number of bodies in Los Angeles County being cremated at taxpayers' expense.
By Molly Hennessy-Fiske
The poor economy is taking a toll even on the dead, with an increasing number of bodies in Los Angeles County going unclaimed by families who cannot afford to bury or cremate their loved ones.
At the county coroner's office -- which handles homicides and other suspicious deaths -- 36% more cremations were done at taxpayers' expense in the last fiscal year over the previous year, from 525 to 712.
The county morgue, which is responsible for the indigent and others who go unclaimed, saw a 25% increase in cremations in the first half of this year over the same period a year ago, rising to 680 from 545.
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," said Lt. David Smith, a coroner's investigator. "The families just tell us flat-out they don't have the money to do a funeral." ......Click here to continue reading
.......... Carol Hooper, 70, a retired aircraft mechanic, said last week that her son struggled with addiction and had trouble holding down jobs. But, she said, he was also a kind, giving person who made many friends growing up in Redondo Beach. If her granddaughter does not claim the ashes, she will.
"We're not rich; we're retired," Hooper said. "But we'll make it for him." ....[rc]
Copyright 2009 Los Angeles Times
Albert Gaskin, caretaker at Evergreen's Cemetery in Los Angeles, looks over the cremated remains of unclaimed bodies. Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times
The weak economy is taking its toll, with an increasing number of bodies in Los Angeles County being cremated at taxpayers' expense.
By Molly Hennessy-Fiske
The poor economy is taking a toll even on the dead, with an increasing number of bodies in Los Angeles County going unclaimed by families who cannot afford to bury or cremate their loved ones.
At the county coroner's office -- which handles homicides and other suspicious deaths -- 36% more cremations were done at taxpayers' expense in the last fiscal year over the previous year, from 525 to 712.
The county morgue, which is responsible for the indigent and others who go unclaimed, saw a 25% increase in cremations in the first half of this year over the same period a year ago, rising to 680 from 545.
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," said Lt. David Smith, a coroner's investigator. "The families just tell us flat-out they don't have the money to do a funeral." ......Click here to continue reading
.......... Carol Hooper, 70, a retired aircraft mechanic, said last week that her son struggled with addiction and had trouble holding down jobs. But, she said, he was also a kind, giving person who made many friends growing up in Redondo Beach. If her granddaughter does not claim the ashes, she will.
"We're not rich; we're retired," Hooper said. "But we'll make it for him." ....[rc]
Copyright 2009 Los Angeles Times
