Inside the process of IDing badly decomposed bodies found at Chicago funeral home; 9 cases remain

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office is working to identify the remains of 56 people found in advanced stages of decomposition at South Chicago Chapel earlier this month, with only nine cases still unresolved, officials said.

In an exclusive interview with the ABC7 I-Team, Cook County Medical Examiner Dr. Ponni Arunkumar said the discovery represents an unprecedented challenge during her tenure.

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"I don't remember it. For the 22 years I've been here, any incident where we had 56 cases coming at one time to our office," Arunkumar said when asked whether she could recall a similar event.

Inside the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office, forensic teams have been working extended hours to identify the deceased. While bodies in good condition can often be identified through visual recognition by relatives or fingerprint comparisons with law enforcement databases, many of the remains found at the funeral home -- that had not been stored properly according to authorities -- required more complex methods.

"Many of them were in moderate to advanced states of decomposition where they cannot be visually identified," Arunkumar said. "It hinders our efforts to identify the person quickly."

For cases involving severe decomposition, investigators rely on X-rays and dental examinations. Technicians scan the remains for medical devices and surgical implants that can be matched to records. Arunkumar said a double knee replacement helped positively identify one individual found at South Chicago Chapel.

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Dental records also play a key role in the identification process.

"If you look at the teeth, you can see there are more ways to compare there," Arunkumar said.

The 56 sets of remains were discovered Aug. 6, and as of Monday, nine remained unidentified, primarily those in the most advanced stages of decomposition.

The medical examiner's office is also using rapid DNA technology in its most difficult cases.

"We have the equipment necessary to do our work. So, it's just staff putting in additional hours to identify these people and examine them to give, in some instances, cause of death. Because some cases there's no death certificate for the decisions," Arunkumar said.

When identifications cannot be made at the medical examiner's office, DNA comparisons are conducted by state police and, in some cases, the FBI.

"For us, our mission is to treat our decedents with dignity and respect and give closure to families," Arunkumar said.

The medical examiner's office also received dozens of cremated remains but does not have the ability to identify them. Officials said the office is offering free cremation services for families whose loved ones were found at South Chicago Chapel and have since been identified.