Families identify uncremated loved ones

by Kristen Wyatt
The Associated Press

NOBLE, Ga. - Distraught families began the wrenching task of trying to identify loved ones yesterday in this rural community where dozens of decomposing corpses were discovered in the woods and in sheds behind a crematory.

People completed Red Cross paperwork to help identify the bodies, and several dentists opened their offices to make dental records available.

Pat Higdon of Chattanooga, Tenn., made the drive to fill out paperwork for her husband, Tommy Higdon, who died of lung cancer last fall. She said she chose to cremate his body because she couldn't afford a burial.

The crematory's operator, Ray Brent Marsh, 28, was charged with five counts of theft by deception, a felony, for allegedly taking payment for cremations he didn't perform. Walker County and state authorities said other charges are likely against Marsh.

A magistrate released Marsh yesterday after he posted a $25,000 bond.

At least 80 bodies have been found in storage sheds and scattered in woods behind Tri-State Crematory in this hamlet about 25 miles south of Chattanooga, Tenn. Of those, 13 have been identified. The discoveries began Friday when a woman walking her dog found a skull.

Officials say they will also search Marsh's entire 16-acre property and a small adjoining lake. Officials, who have set up a morgue at the site, say the property could yield several hundred bodies.