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CNN Live At Daybreak

Investigation into Decomposing Bodies Found at a Georgia Crematorium

Aired February 18, 2002 - 06:23   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We've been telling you about this all morning long, a gruesome new discovery has added to the body count at a northwest Georgia crematorium.

CNN's Holly Firfer joins us live from the town of Noble with an update -- good morning.

HOLLY FIRFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

It's the stuff that you really see in horror movies, but it's very real. So real, in fact, that Georgia Governor Roy Barnes has declared a state of emergency.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FIRFER (voice-over): The discovery of more than a hundred decomposing bodies on the 16-acre grounds of Tri-State Crematory has shocked and appalled residents and family members who thought they were holding the ashes of their loved ones.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is somebody's mama that -- somebody's life you know. She was found in a barn laying on the ground. I mean after two months, I mean this is -- this is horrible.

FIRFER: But an anonymous tip to the EPA led officials to a crematory that was in fact disposing of the bodies instead of burning them. Now the family-run crematory's 28-year-old director Ray Brent Marsh has been charged with five counts of theft by deception. He claims the incinerator has not worked for some time. Judging by the number of bodies in various states of decomposition, officials say some may have been dumped there more than a decade ago.

SHERIFF STEVE WILSON, WALKER COUNTY GEORGIA: We located -- began locating skeletal remains of individuals throughout the wooded area. Some were in coffins, some were in caskets, some were just strewn about the top of the ground.

FIRFER: Since most of the bodies were embalmed, neighbors say they did not notice any foul odors. In fact, some say they walked through the property to fish at a nearby lake. EPA officials have tested the ground water for contamination but say they have not found any problems. Now medical examiners must identify the bodies, but officials say this could take months since some are so old and mummified they need DNA samples from family members to make an ID.

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FIRFER: And in addition to trying to identify those remains, authorities today will continue to search the property for more bodies and they say eventually they will check the lake, which is actually on the crematory grounds, for possible contamination and, Carol, possibly more bodies.

COSTELLO: Holly, I know you touched on this, but with that many decomposing bodies, why didn't anyone at least smell it and think that something was wrong here?

FIRFER: Well because of the embalming, they say that nobody really smelled anything. They buried a lot of bodies as well.

We talked to a neighbor who lived right across the street from the crematory, and he said he would walk through there to go fishing on that lake. But about a year and a half ago, the family stopped them from entering their property and walking by that. So they just -- they said they didn't really know.

COSTELLO: Unbelievable. OK, Holly Firfer reporting live for us from Noble, Georgia this morning.

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