Because Noble, GA is fairly close to where I live and work, I feel compelled to comment on the abandoning of almost 200 bodies at a crematory there.
My first instinct is to give the ol’ Ray Marsh the benefit of the doubt. Maybe his incinerator really was broken and he was going to cremate the bodies eventually. Then the sheer numbers struck me and I realized that this was a callous grab for cash. So then I think, his father, who ran the crematory until the mid ’90s, couldn’t have known, or else, he would have done something about it. Out comes the detail that the father and mother actually live on the grounds of the crematory. They had to have known what was going on. 5 steel vaults stuffed with bodies don’t hide themselves and they sure as hell don’t smell like roses. Then, I hear that he had just ordered 5 steel septic tanks, presumably to put more bodies in. Does it cost more to buy septic tanks or to actually perform the cremations you are being paid for?
Of course, that’s some of my logical take on it. The real meat of this story is the families who entrusted Mr. Marsh with their loved one’s remains. My first question is what were the ashes made of that he gave them? Was there anything in the urns at all? I’m certain that all the families involved have had to relive the grief they thought they had conquered. They must also now face a justive system that can offer them little solace as the only law Mr. Marsh has broken is theft by deception.
The GA legislature will vote today to make “abandoning a corpse” illegal. That law will come too late for the families of Noble, but I wonder if the families won’t sue the funeral homes that contracted the cremation to Mr. Marsh. I’m no lawyer but that’s the money pit I’d be looking for. Since Mr. Marsh was just doing a job for the funeral homes and it ostensibly would have been their responsibility to ensure that their contractor completed the job, liability may lie with them. Perhaps our resident lawyer, Cosbysweater can enlighten.