The remains of more than 20,000 unclaimed veterans await burial, according to a 2023 VA survey. Most of these veterans are likely eligible for burial with military honors in a national cemetery. So why are their remains languishing in funeral homes and coroner offices? One reason is that overworked and underfunded coroner and medical examiner…
Category: Unclaimed
Remembering Michael P. Rellahan, our local newspaperman
On November 8, 2018, while I was Chester County (PA)’s Coroner, we held a memorial ceremony, perhaps the first ever, for fifty-two unclaimed persons whose cremains had resided in the coroner’s office for years. I’ve written before about the sad issue of bodies left unclaimed, but on that day in 2018 we celebrated the lives…
Should county coroners be responsible for unclaimed bodies at nursing homes?
Should coroners be responsible for unclaimed bodies at nursing homes?