A Georgia funeral home owner has been arrested on 17 counts of abuse of a dead body after authorities serving an eviction notice found 18 bodies in various states of decomposition. Two deceased pets were also discovered.
On Saturday, October 26, members of the Coffee County, Georgia Sheriff’s Offices intended to serve an eviction notice at Johnson Funeral and Cremation Services in Douglas, Georgia, which is a little over three hours south of Atlanta. Agents from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) were on hand to assist in the process, and immediately opened an investigation after making the gruesome discovery.
Based on their findings, the GBI arrested the funeral home’s owner, Chris Johnson, 39, and charged him with 17 counts of abuse of a dead body. The arrest was made on Sunday, October 27 at Johnson’s home.
“It’s obviously a terrible case,” Gabe Sterling, chief operating officer of the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office, told Atlanta News First. Sterling’s office provides administrative support for the Georgia State Board of Funeral Service.
“His license lapsed for a period of time this year and then he reinstated his funeral director’s license and his embalmer’s license. The facility license was still not renewed.”
According to Atlanta News First, Johnson ran unsuccessfully to become the Coffee County coroner this year, and his business was not a member of the Georgia Funeral Directors Association. DouglasNews.com adds that Johnson had “been the subject of an investigation for quite some time.”
That outlet said Johnson was “in the process of moving” his funeral home to a new location that he was preparing, but was still operating in the facility where the bodies were found, and that “rumblings of various issues” at the funeral home had been circulating “for a long time.”
Families recently served by Johnson shared with local news outlets their frustrations with the funeral director as news of the discovery broke. One family member said they had called “over 50 or 60 times” about the status of certified death certificates, for which they had already paid, and Johnson did not answer or return calls. Another family member said they knocked on the door of the funeral home over and over — knowing that Johnson was inside, as his car was parked outside — for nearly a year before Johnson finally provided the certificates.
The GBI has provided several methods for families to reach out if they believe their family members may be among the deceased discovered at Johnson Funeral and Cremation Services.
The most recent obituary posted to the funeral home’s website indicates the service and burial took place on October 10, 2024. The website displays only 10 obituaries, with the earliest services being held on May 30 of this year.
One news outlet explained that one of the 18 bodies discovered on Saturday had not been in the funeral home long enough for charges to be filed, thus Johnson has only been charged with 17 felony counts. His bond has been denied and he is being held in Coffee County jail.
