There’s a secret being kept in Detroit that may surprise you. Apparently, the Wayne County morgue recently had as much as 67 unclaimed bodies piled up because neither the family nor the county can afford to give them a proper burial, according to CNNMoney.com.
Several people have yet to come forward and accept their loved ones because they can’t afford to provide a service, casket and funeral arrangement or the $695 needed for cremation, causing the record high attendance. Officials blame the high unemployment rate in the area as well as the county’s dried up $21,000 annual budget, which ran out in June. What happens until then? Either the county will wait for family members to surface or keep the bodies on ice until the budget is replenished next year.
Families can apply for assistance from the Michigan Department of Human Services. Michigan was allotted $4.9 million for just this reason although less than $150,000 remains in that budget.-WLW