Legal News

Cremated remains found in Atlanta-area storage

By (Breaking Legal News)

A legal team that was seeking a bankrupt funeral home's financial records instead made a macabre discovery: nearly 100 boxes of cremated remains, some dating back more than two decades, stashed in a suburban storage unit.

The discovery has been a comfort for a few families that received the ashes of lost loved ones, but a conundrum for officials trying to figure out what to do with the rest.

Devotis Lee of Atlanta recently received the remains of her father, Julius Griffin, more than 10 years after his death in June 1999.

"It made me feel good, wonderful. It was fantastic," Lee said.

She said she had tried repeatedly to contact the funeral home several years ago but finally gave up in frustration. Then the Fulton County medical examiner's office got in touch to say the ashes had been found.

It's not clear whether any state laws were violated, but authorities are trying to determine whether sanctions should be brought against the Sellers Brothers Funeral Home or its last operator.

Full post as published by Breaking Legal News on December 29, 2009 (boomark / email).