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CNN Sunday Morning

Grisly Investigation Underway

Aired February 17, 2002 - 09:01   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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Day two of a grisly investigation underway this morning in rural northwest Georgia. Authorities have discovered dozens of bodies and body parts at a family run crematorium that apparently has not been in operation for some time. Richard Elliot of CNN affiliate WSB in Atlanta is live in Walker County, Georgia with some details for us. Good morning, Richard.

RICHARD ELLIOT, WSB REPORTER: Good morning, Miles. We're live outside the Walker County Civil Center, and the Walker County Emergency Operation Center. We're just now beginning to see some families trickle in here. They're coming here to find out if their family members were properly taken care of, or if they are among the potentially hundreds of bodies found outside the Tri-State Crematory.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEVE WILSON, WALKER COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: Some were in coffins. Some were in caskets. Some were just strewn about the top of the ground.

ELLIOT (voice over): Police turned this property into a makeshift morgue, as they try to identify the scores of human remains found inside and outside the Tri-State Crematory.

WILSON: This is certainly going to be a task that can not be completed today or tomorrow, and I don't really expect to put a time line on it, because we've never been in this position before.

ROCK THOMAS, RESIDENT: They should not be decomposing back here, or having animals get into it or worse is not the way I want my last - I mean that mars the last memories of my mom.

ELLIOT: Rock Thomas and dozens of others are afraid their loved ones might be one of the bodies found. They're waiting to find out. But it's not only loved ones who are having a hard time understanding what's happening.

CHRIS SPERRY, STATE MEDICAL EXAMINER: I have never seen anything like this. None of my professional colleagues in the work that I do around this country have ever seen anything like this, and frankly I hope never to again.

ELLIOT: And there's no telling when and if all the bodies will be identified. SPERRY: I do not believe, in fact, I know we will not be able to identify all of these conclusively.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ELLIOT: Now Brent Marsh is the owner of Tri-State Crematory. He has been arrested on Theft by Deception charges, and he is in a Walker County Magistrate Court even as we speak.

Again, some families are just now beginning to gather here outside the Walker County Civic Center, trying to get some more information about all that's happened. In Walker County, I'm Richard Elliot, now back to you.

O'BRIEN: Richard, just a quick question before you get away on identification. Are the families going to be asked to actually identify some remains and is there a possibility in some cases of using, for example, dental or DNA records to somehow make matches?

ELLIOT: Well, from what we understand that some family members have gone back, have already identified. We understand, as of last night, which was the last update we got, that 80 bodies have been found, 13 had been identified, and those were ones who had come in there most recently.

As far as dental records, that's not going to be possible, because many of the families got ashes, they got urns full of ashes. We understand, we've heard that some of these families are being asked to bring the urns so that they can try and do some DNA testing to try and identify these people.

O'BRIEN: All right, Richard Elliot of our Atlanta affiliate WSB, who is in Walker County, Georgia. Thanks for being with us this morning.

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