DuPage County Debunks Claim That 5 Unidentified Bodies Exist at Local Morgue

After the Naperville Sun published an article Dec. 18 claiming there were five unidentified bodies at the DuPage County Morgue, the county itself published a release the same day firmly denying the statements.

“This is untrue,” the county stated bluntly. “It is misleading and may give false hope to families who may now believe that their missing loved one rests in our morgue.”

The county claimed in its statement that the Sun reporter, Bill Bird, was told multiple times that there was only one unidentified body in the morgue, and Coroner Richard Jorgensen didn’t say whether or not any unclaimed bodies existed in the facility at the time.

“We have utilized all means available to us to ascertain conclusive identification according to state and federal protocols,” the release states. “All known information has been registered with the appropriate local and federal agencies.” The county also made sure to note that the identity and cause of death of the unidentified man — believed to be a Native American or Hispanic man between 45 and 65 years old — are under active investigation by the coroner’s office, county sheriff’s department and other agencies.

Every other body in the county coroner’s morgue has been identified, according to the release. If information about a certain death hasn’t been released to the public, that’s because it’s pending investigation into cause of death or next of kin hasn’t been notified yet.

“Particularly in this holiday season, we wish to dispel any false hope created by this article and assure those seeking to find their missing loved ones that we have only one unidentified deceased in our morgue and that all state and federal agencies already have all the information that we can provide to assist in identification of the single remaining individual," the release states.

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