Thousands of unclaimed bodies stack up in LA

Failure to make arrangements for the disposition of your property upon death may have significant consequences.

According to Emily Henry & Kristopher Tapley, Left for Dead, Neon Tommy (USC), Feb. 2009:

• The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office houses 4,705 unclaimed bodies on file.
• However, they have only about 1,500 corpses.
• The difference in number is caused by administrative problems such as county-performed cremations and burials in mass graves.
• The current economic crisis has lead to more people leaving their dead family members with the Coroner’s Office which shifts the disposition expenses to the taxpayers.