1. 7 August, 2009
    09:53
    And in the category of glass half-empty, “More bodies go unclaimed as families can’t afford funeral costs.” The Los Angeles County coroner’s office handles murder victims and suspicious deaths, and it’s reporting that 36 percent more cremations were done at taxpayers’ expense. At the county morgue, which handles cremation of indigents, the spike is 25 percent. “The families just tell us flat-out they don’t have the money to do a funeral,” Lt. David Smith, a coroner’s investigator, tells the LA Times.

    And in the category of glass half-empty, “More bodies go unclaimed as families can’t afford funeral costs.” The Los Angeles County coroner’s office handles murder victims and suspicious deaths, and it’s reporting that 36 percent more cremations were done at taxpayers’ expense. At the county morgue, which handles cremation of indigents, the spike is 25 percent. “The families just tell us flat-out they don’t have the money to do a funeral,” Lt. David Smith, a coroner’s investigator, tells the LA Times.