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Graphic: Did Chicago Morgue Go Too Far Posting Unredacted Photos of Unclaimed Bodies?

Mar. 8, 2013 10:28am

Editor’s Note: Some of the images below, which we’ve blurred, show deceased people and still might be considered graphic to some. 

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The Cook County morgue in Illinois is so crowded that the Chicago Sun-Times reported in January last year that bodies were stacked in blue bags on top of each other. According to the medical examiner’s office spokeswoman Mary Paleologos, who spoke with DNA Info this week, there are about 20 unidentified bodies in the morgue at this time.

In an effort to identify these bodies, the county’s medical examiner began posting photos and some other information online in the hopes that it lead to their being claimed.

On the website of the Office of the Medical Examiner is an unidentified person’s page where information includes descriptions of potentially identifying information, like clothing and tattoos, and, in some cases, photographs.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported it is the first time such detailed information has been included on the website.

Cook County Morgue Launches Website With Information and Pictures of Unidentified Bodies

The information is formatted as a chart like this. Some cases have photos pending, a few have photos available and some do not have photos at all. (Image: Cook County Office of the Medical Examiner)

Speaking with DNA Info, Chief Medical Examiner Stephen Cina said he hopes posting such information will help loved ones identify and claim bodies of those at the morgue.

“While some of the images are graphic, they may allow a family member across the country or around the world to identify a missing loved one,” Cina said in a statement, according to the Sun-Times.

Clicking to view a photo on the website first pulls up this pop-up (below) warning the viewer of the potentially graphic content.

Cook County Morgue Launches Website With Information and Pictures of Unidentified Bodies

(Image: Cook County Office of the Medical Examiner)

Here are a couple examples of photos of what is included on the website (Editor’s note: we’ve blurred the face):

Cook County Morgue Launches Website With Information and Pictures of Unidentified Bodies

(Photo: Cook County Medical Examiner)

Cook County Morgue Launches Website With Information and Pictures of Unidentified Bodies

(Image: Cook County Medical Examiner)

Milwaukee County in Wisconsin launched a similar unidentified person’s database to its website last year. Forensic investigator Mike Simley spoke with ABC News at the time about why, although potentially gruesome, such a database is important:

“I was just desperate to get people identified,” Simley said. “Everyone is born with an identity and deserves to die and be put to rest with the same thing, rather than as a Jane or John Doe.”

The database is filled with photos of the unnamed deceased– bloated faces and all–that viewers can scroll through to see if they recognize any faces. The website even includes a section for unidentified infants and fetuses found abandoned and deceased. Many of the images, Simley acknowledged, are gruesome.

“I talked with the chief medical examiner here. We see this stuff on a daily basis, but people who don’t have to deal with death all the time. Obviously it would not be an easy thing for people to see, deceased individuals,” Simley said.

He created the website to have multiple warnings and disclaimers about the types of pictures featured.

“I structured this website so you have to jump through some hoops, and read a big warning about what types of pictures they are, and a description of why I’m doing this (before you see the photos).”

The information on Cook County’s expanded website was already posted on the national missing persons website NamUs, but Cina told DNA Info many family members wouldn’t think to look there.

WBBM-TV reported that Newsradio was able to use information on the county’s new website to identify the family of one unclaimed body at the morgue. What Newsradio found was that sometimes there are reasons the body goes unclaimed, even if it is identified.

Here’s more from WBBM-TV on this case:

Unclaimed: 68-year-old Anthony Motkowicz. Did odd jobs and sold scrap metal. Grew up in the Hegewisch area.

“He was the golden child,” Angelica Maris.

Maris was the third wife – and ex-wife – of Anthony Motkowicz, who died in a tent fire on January 20, in Burnham – on the Illinois-Indiana line.

“When they found him, what was in my wallet was still my picture, with my number. And I was just surprised he still had my picture,” said Maris.

She says she contacted his sister, a nephew and another ex-wife.

“And so it all came out to this whole process of not anybody knowing what they can do. Nobody has the funds to do anything,” said Maris.

In Motkowicz’s case though, WBBM-TV reported, Maris was able to show he was a veteran, which means he will be buried as such.

But if Maris was not able to find the paperwork showing this was true, she asked the morgue what would happen to his body. Maris claimed that the medical examiner’s office said if the paperwork wasn’t available and the body went unclaimed, that Motkowicz’s body would be “just thrown into, basically a tomb of 30 other people,” WBBM-TV reported  Maris saying.

Let us know what you think of the county posting such photos online by taking our poll:

Featured image via Shutterstock.com.

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Comments (47)

1 2
  • LeadNotFollow
    Posted on March 9, 2013 at 12:34am

    I think it’s a good idea to post the photos.
    The morgue posting photos of the deceased, may be the only way their loved ones can find them.

    Report this comment

    LeadNotFollow  
  • peccatumDei
    Posted on March 8, 2013 at 5:22pm

    “In its early days, the Allegheny County morgue was a place where bereaved people would identify their loved ones by peering into clear glass coolers, and where guys would bring squeamish prom dates so they could hold them close when they got the heebie-jeebies.” (from a 2009 article)

    Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/allegheny-county-morgue-on-the-move-again-344843/#ixzz2MzPgRsjz

    Report this comment

    peccatumDei  
    • oldslori
      Posted on March 8, 2013 at 8:39pm

      I grew up in the Pittsburgh area and the county Morgue was a hot spot to visit on a date back in the 60′s. My mom told me that her and dad went to the airport and the morgue on there first date.

      Report this comment

      oldslori  
  • AmericaMustBeFree
    Posted on March 8, 2013 at 3:41pm

    If they are homeless and no family around then thats exactly the way they wanted it! Their are a myraid of reason’s why the homeless have left their familes behind. This is nothing more than trying to find someone to pay for the burial!

    Report this comment

    AmericaMustBeFree  
  • MrKnowItAll
    Posted on March 8, 2013 at 2:37pm

    Nothing is WORSE then the Wayne County Morgue here in Detroit. Bodies stacked Ten High, Bodies stored in unrefrigerated Vans outside. EXACT Words of Detroit Police Detective when he was asked why My Brother sat in the Morgue for Two weeks without us being Contacted. When my Brother had all kinds of I.D. on him. “We FIND over 200 Bodies in Detroit a Week. Even if we do know who that person is we do not have the resources to hunt down Relatives. My Brother’s Body was so Decomposed from the Lack of Equipment at the morgue. CLOSED CASKET! Very expensive also. This bad and you need a High End Casket to stop leakage. Can’t SUE! Detroit is REALLY BROKE!

    Report this comment

    MrKnowItAll  
  • Southernsoul
    Posted on March 8, 2013 at 2:21pm

    Too graphic how, by showing identifying images like faces or tattoos? No, I don’t think so.

    Report this comment

    Southernsoul  
  • Shogun357
    Posted on March 8, 2013 at 1:28pm

    They will still be able to vote democrat.

    Report this comment

    Shogun357  
  • Verceofreason
    Posted on March 8, 2013 at 12:39pm

    What silly people you are.
    The morgue is trying to bring closure to some family
    and dignity and proper burial for another human being.

    Report this comment

    Verceofreason  
  • thegreatcarnac
    Posted on March 8, 2013 at 12:18pm

    No….the morgue did not go too far. Life in Chicago is cheap. Always has been. It is like parts of India. A person dies and is pushed to the side of the road like road-kill. This is the result of years of democrat-lib rule. Haven’t you heard? Diversity is strength. Death is the new’ life’. Liberals are trash.

    Report this comment

    thegreatcarnac  
    • Whatmeworry-never
      Posted on March 8, 2013 at 12:27pm

      So true that is why I fled from there and embrace Liberty to my core. The urban centers are now nothing but re-education camps, life is cheap, drugs and violence are the norm, honor, integrity and morals are abnormal. I want nothing to do with a city ever again.

      Report this comment

      Whatmeworry-never  
  • perry1980
    Posted on March 8, 2013 at 12:03pm

    That’s Chicago Style
    Just like their politics

    Report this comment

    perry1980  
  • Krutch
    Posted on March 8, 2013 at 11:56am

    Let us see these bama voters!

    Report this comment

    Krutch  
  • shorelineliz
    Posted on March 8, 2013 at 11:56am

    This is the SAME STORY out of Detroit Michigan. People are too BROKE to claim and bury their loved ones. ANOTHER FAILED LIBERAL CITY. DUH. Everybody in these cities going to end up in Potters Field.

    Report this comment

    shorelineliz  
  • SamIamTwo
    Posted on March 8, 2013 at 11:54am

    Poor taste to put food adds in this one. ROTFLMAO.

    Report this comment

    SamIamTwo  
  • BurntHills
    Posted on March 8, 2013 at 11:52am

    “GRAPHIC!” this and “GRAPHIC!” that “WARNINGs!” . talk about fearful complete nonsense coming from an immature overly-sensitivized population. we are so SICK of people who cannot handle the natural end of Life, we DIE, millions of us DIE every day and yet the MENTION of th sight of a deceased =DEAD= person sends people freaking out. at happens when America finds itself plunged into WAR, GRAPHIC! can’t look at the dead guy nextdoor laying out in his lawn?, so will he LAY THERE and rot? can’t bear to look at the people laying down on the cormner? GRAPHIC! don’t look! you might see something that is the natural progression of a body after Life. what is America coming to. it’s disgraceful. we used to have our families laying out in our living rooms until their funerals. that only changed because some enterprising guy imagined a business of keeping bodies at his casket business and the family having a wake for them there instead of at the family’s home.

    Report this comment

    BurntHills  
    • GardenoftheGods
      Posted on March 8, 2013 at 11:59am

      Gotta agree with you there…

      Report this comment

      GardenoftheGods  
    • Former11BRAVO
      Posted on March 8, 2013 at 3:50pm

      Ain’t it the truth?

      Hell . . . you’ll see the same warning on TV when there’s a dead critter! It’s utterly absurd.

      It’s a wonder there aren’t mandatory warnings when TV shows a picture of someone WORKING! After all, somebody unemployed might see (or, Heaven forbid, a “Free $hit Army” member!)!

      Report this comment

      Former11BRAVO  
  • Slowman101
    Posted on March 8, 2013 at 11:51am

    Not to graphic. I think it’s basically a good idea.

    Hey BLAZE: How about we stop the popups? Hard up for money?

    Report this comment

    Slowman101  
  • MDECKER
    Posted on March 8, 2013 at 11:50am

    I believe the photo second from the top is, the “Higgs Boson”!

    Report this comment

    MDECKER  
  • banjarmon
    Posted on March 8, 2013 at 11:46am

    I recognize the blurred face….It’s it’s ……it’s…..Biden!!! !AAAARRRRGGGGGGUUUHHHH

    Report this comment

    banjarmon  
  • BurntHills
    Posted on March 8, 2013 at 11:41am

    people used to die at home, for millenia, with their loved ones gathered around them, and the sight of Death in all its stages was not shocking. up until the midth century we had them die at home, AND we waked them at home, we laid them out in the front parlor and everyone came to the house and looked at them, and they were most definitely dead. Americans had NO fear of seeing a deceased person. but these last 40 years of communism and ‘correctness’ is nothing more than the emasculation of America. for God’s Sake, GROW UP, America, these are deceased, DEAD, people who NEED to be looked at and recognized someone that someone KNEW is no longer alive.

    Report this comment

    BurntHills  
  • HelloWorld
    Posted on March 8, 2013 at 11:30am

    No they did not go to far. In fact, there are no naked pictures and the pictures show that the bodies are being treated with respect. You would have to be looking for someone that has gone missing to even find this website. The person stated that he was desperate to have these bodies claimed and felt that everyone deserved recognition in life and in death. So no, they did not go to far. This is not dehumanizing though it is distasteful but any death of this kind is distasteful. Dehumanizing is when you treat living individuals as if they are dead or not human.

    Report this comment

    HelloWorld  
    • woodyee
      Posted on March 8, 2013 at 11:38am

      “Dehumanizing is when you treat living individuals as if they are dead or not human.”

      Yep – like human fetus’s…

      Report this comment

      woodyee  
    • zorro
      Posted on March 8, 2013 at 11:40am

      Some areas in Mexico have been doing this for a long time and people have been able to locate their loved ones. I think it does suck but it could potentially bring people closure.

      Report this comment

      zorro  
    • HelloWorld
      Posted on March 8, 2013 at 11:44am

      Agreed

      Report this comment

      HelloWorld  
  • woodyee
    Posted on March 8, 2013 at 11:13am

    11 posts so far.

    no ne has mentioned it yet – OMG!! Not again! I must resist! This time, I shall…be successfull…NO! no! no! no!

    I mustn’t! Not again! Force is powerful…too powerful…resistance…is…futile…I MUST ask –

    Might this help find Jimmy Hoffa?

    Report this comment

    woodyee  
  • copatriots
    Posted on March 8, 2013 at 11:04am

    I confess I scrolled immediately down to the comments thus I have not seen the pictures nor read the story. Does no one think this is another step toward devaluing human life and de-sensitizing minds? Yet another step toward society accepting euthanasia when one has outlived their usefulness.

    @ THEBLAZE,

    Is there anyway you can allow “read”ers to merely read a story without having to view pictures you KNOW are graphic or offensive? Perhaps you could link pictures if your readers actually want to view them. Thank you for your consideration.

    Report this comment

     
  • stumpygrim
    Posted on March 8, 2013 at 10:50am

    @Liz.
    So you blurr the face, wth do you consider graphic? If no one claims the bodies, does it matter,i would guess most of those not claimed are homeless,or as someone said, their families cant afford to plant them in the groung, and are letting tax payers foot the bill?!…….

    Report this comment

    stumpygrim  
  • Apple Bite
    Posted on March 8, 2013 at 10:42am

    Think what’s going on here is, people are too broke to bury their own family in Illinois, when you think about the taxes that existed BEFORE the Statist Messiah took office.

    How disconnected must you be not to notice a family member is missing?

    Report this comment

    Apple Bite  
    • pragmaticpatriot
      Posted on March 8, 2013 at 11:16am

      Joplin had dozens of unclaimed remains that were swept under the rug- several first responders said that there was a reefer full of parts that were unclaimed… most local wal-marts had so many missing posters that they overlapped. Many had no family or were illegal immigrants or were estranged from their families. point being that when overwhelmed many dont always make the best decision.

      Report this comment

      pragmaticpatriot  
  • DZ-015
    Posted on March 8, 2013 at 10:40am

    If there is someone to edit out the more graphic images so as to show only recognizable faces and closeup of tattoos as appeared in this article, then it could be a reasonable way to identify these John/Jane Does and give their families some closure.

    Report this comment

    DZ-015  
  • Tri-ox
    Posted on March 8, 2013 at 10:36am

    Does it really matter? The streets of Chicago are paved with corpses.

    Report this comment

    Tri-ox  
  • gyro
    Posted on March 8, 2013 at 10:34am

    omg they are posting pictures of people that didnt vote for Obama

    Report this comment

    gyro  
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