As the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office released the identities of the four bodies and cremains found in a Riverdale garage, families across Chicago struggle to understand why a man claiming to be a licensed funeral director had been storing bodies and organs in his garage. NBC 5’s Tammy Leitner reports.
Authorities say three of the four bodies found in varying stages of decomposition in the garage of a suburban Chicago home have been identified, as have the ashes of a fifth person.
The Cook County medical examiner on Friday identified the remains as 50-year-old Bridgette Godfrey, who died 2013; 62-year-old Ruby Jackson, who died in 2013; and 38-year-old Torrence Henderson, 38, who died in 2011. The ashes were that of 44-year-old Andre D. Mabrey, who died in 2013.
"I have no idea what type of human being would do something this devastating," said Mario Godfrey, whose mother is Bridgette Godfrey. "I can't even begin to wrap my mind around the different things my mom's body has been exposed to over a two-year period of time in the garage."
The remains were found in the garage of the Riverdale home of Anton Godfrey, who died in August. Godfrey, the owner of Living Waters Funeral Service, was not a licensed funeral director, but he handled dozens of cremations and funeral services. The state attempted to shut him down several times as a result.
Authorities say Godfrey was the subject of multiple court orders to cease in-home mortuary practices.
Records show the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation fined Godfrey $10,000 in August 2013 for operating as a funeral director and embalmer without a license.
