Redallnite
02-16-02, 07:48PM
I wonder what was really going on with Ray Marsh??
NOBLE, Ga. (AP) - Authorities arrested a man Saturday who operated a crematory where dozens of decomposing corpses were found stacked in storage sheds and scattered in nearby woods. Some of the bodies were in coffins that appeared to have been buried and disinterred.
When investigators asked 28-year-old Ray Brent Marsh why the bodies weren't cremated, he told them the crematory's incinerator wasn't working, Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman John Bankhead said.
"The worst horror movie you've ever seen — imagine that 10 times worse," Walker County Coroner Dewayne Wilson said. "That is what I'm dealing with."
Officials said the number of bodies found could be in the hundreds. They broke off the search of the woods Saturday night and planned to resume Sunday morning.
"All we know for sure right now are the 80 bodies, and 13 of those have been identified," Bankhead said. "But they've found so many other partial skeletal remains and evidence of graves, we don't know how many more are out there."
Bankhead said some of the bodies were found in rusty coffins, some of which could be up to ten years old.
"At one time they apparently were buried in the ground in some other cemetery and were dug up and taken to the crematory," he said. "We don't know why that is."
Some of the bodies had been delivered to the Tri-State Crematory within the last few days, and some bore hospital toe tags, Bankhead said. Others had apparently been there for as long as three years, authorities said.
Marsh was charged with theft by deception, a felony. His parents, Ray and Clara Marsh, who own Tri-State Crematory, turned over their records to authorities and were cooperating, Walker County chief deputy Hill Morrison said.
Sheriff Steve Wilson said the owners told authorities the crematory had not been in operation, but there was no word on how long.
Gov. Roy Barnes declared a state of emergency in Walker County, which is near the Alabama and Tennessee state lines.
Tim Mason said his father, who died in December, was the first body to be identified. The body has been sent to a funeral home for cremation, he said.
"I just can't imagine," said Mason, 53, of La Fayette. "I mean I can see ... getting a few days behind, (but) months, years? I just can't imagine anyone doing that. I'm real disappointed, that's for sure."
Mason said his mother died in 1995 and her body was sent to Tri-State Crematory. Mason said he hopes her body was cremated and will not be discovered.
A call to the crematory Saturday was not immediately returned. A recording directed callers to the Walker County sheriff's office.
Authorities set up a morgue at the site to begin sifting through the corpses and trying to identify them. Bankhead said it might be impossible to identify some of the bodies.
The discoveries began Friday when a woman walking her dog found a skull. Within hours, investigators had found three dozen corpses, some of them stacked next to tools in storage sheds.
In November, a resident reported finding a body part in woods nearby, the sheriff said. Deputies searched the area but found nothing suspicious.
Noble is about 85 miles northwest of Atlanta.
NOBLE, Ga. (AP) - Authorities arrested a man Saturday who operated a crematory where dozens of decomposing corpses were found stacked in storage sheds and scattered in nearby woods. Some of the bodies were in coffins that appeared to have been buried and disinterred.
When investigators asked 28-year-old Ray Brent Marsh why the bodies weren't cremated, he told them the crematory's incinerator wasn't working, Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman John Bankhead said.
"The worst horror movie you've ever seen — imagine that 10 times worse," Walker County Coroner Dewayne Wilson said. "That is what I'm dealing with."
Officials said the number of bodies found could be in the hundreds. They broke off the search of the woods Saturday night and planned to resume Sunday morning.
"All we know for sure right now are the 80 bodies, and 13 of those have been identified," Bankhead said. "But they've found so many other partial skeletal remains and evidence of graves, we don't know how many more are out there."
Bankhead said some of the bodies were found in rusty coffins, some of which could be up to ten years old.
"At one time they apparently were buried in the ground in some other cemetery and were dug up and taken to the crematory," he said. "We don't know why that is."
Some of the bodies had been delivered to the Tri-State Crematory within the last few days, and some bore hospital toe tags, Bankhead said. Others had apparently been there for as long as three years, authorities said.
Marsh was charged with theft by deception, a felony. His parents, Ray and Clara Marsh, who own Tri-State Crematory, turned over their records to authorities and were cooperating, Walker County chief deputy Hill Morrison said.
Sheriff Steve Wilson said the owners told authorities the crematory had not been in operation, but there was no word on how long.
Gov. Roy Barnes declared a state of emergency in Walker County, which is near the Alabama and Tennessee state lines.
Tim Mason said his father, who died in December, was the first body to be identified. The body has been sent to a funeral home for cremation, he said.
"I just can't imagine," said Mason, 53, of La Fayette. "I mean I can see ... getting a few days behind, (but) months, years? I just can't imagine anyone doing that. I'm real disappointed, that's for sure."
Mason said his mother died in 1995 and her body was sent to Tri-State Crematory. Mason said he hopes her body was cremated and will not be discovered.
A call to the crematory Saturday was not immediately returned. A recording directed callers to the Walker County sheriff's office.
Authorities set up a morgue at the site to begin sifting through the corpses and trying to identify them. Bankhead said it might be impossible to identify some of the bodies.
The discoveries began Friday when a woman walking her dog found a skull. Within hours, investigators had found three dozen corpses, some of them stacked next to tools in storage sheds.
In November, a resident reported finding a body part in woods nearby, the sheriff said. Deputies searched the area but found nothing suspicious.
Noble is about 85 miles northwest of Atlanta.