Georgia funeral home operator gave families fake cremated remains, indictment says

The proprietor of a South Georgia funeral home where law enforcement officials found the remains of 18 people in various stages of decomposition has been indicted on 62 counts of alleged crimes in the wake of the grim October discovery.

The formal charges against Christopher Lee Johnson, 39, who ran the now-defunct Johnson Funeral & Cremation Services in the city of Douglas, include abandonment of a dead body, dead body abuse, theft by deception, violation of vital records registration and insurance fraud.

According to the 26-page indictment grand jurors handed up last week, at least two of the decedents whose remains were found inside the Coffee County funeral home in late October had been dead for nine months. Of the other decedents whose dates of death are noted, one died in February, one died in March, three died in May, five died in June, four died in July and one died in August.

Of the 18 bodies identified by the GBI, all of which had been sent there for cremation, the indictment notes that 16 of their families or loved ones were given fake cremains in the form of “a substance … represented as” cremation remains.

The indictment further mentions that 16 families or loved ones of those who died were charged anywhere from about $1,400 to $5,000 for cremation services that were never performed. All told, the alleged theft from families and an insurance company is about $35,000.

According to court records, Johnson was denied bond earlier this month.