Deputies serving eviction notice at funeral home find 18 decomposing bodies, GA cops say
UPDATE: Chris Johnson was indicted in January on more than 60 charges, including abuse to a dead body, abandonment of a dead body, theft by deception violation of vital records and insurance fraud, WALB and WSB-TV reported.
The original story is below.
While serving an eviction notice at a Georgia funeral home, deputies came across a disturbing discovery — 18 decomposing bodies, investigators said.
Now, the owner is charged.
Chris Johnson, 39, was arrested on more than a dozen counts of abuse of dead body, after deputies with the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office found 18 bodies in “various stages of decomposition” at Johnson Funeral Home in Douglas, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in an Oct. 27 news release.
Deputies reached out to the GBI on Oct. 26 after finding the bodies while serving an eviction notice at the funeral home, investigators said.
McClatchy News reached out to Johnson Funeral Home on Oct. 28, but did not receive an immediate response.
According to a May 22 Facebook post, Johnson unsuccessfully ran for county coroner this year and planned to run again in 2028.
The investigation is ongoing, and once complete will be given to the Waycross Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for prosecution, according to the news release.
A spokesperson for the GBI told McClatchy News there are no additional updates at this time.
Douglas is about a 200-mile drive southeast from Atlanta.
Community members respond
Several people commented on an Oct. 27 Facebook post by news outlet Douglas Now asking about the bodies of their lost loved ones.
“My daddy passed away 5 months ago and was supposed to be cremated,” one person said.
“So this is why we haven’t got my daddy’s ashes back and he has been passed since February,” another person said.
This story was originally published October 28, 2024 at 12:57 PM.
