L.A. County To Bury 1,400 Unclaimed Cremated Remains

When the indigent elderly, homeless, and others in Los Angeles die, they’re taken to the L.A. County cemetery to be cremated. Paper records have been fastidiously kept for decades cataloging the deceased, yet many of them go unclaimed. Even though the records were digitized in 2011 as a means to more accurately match the deceased with their loved ones, only a handful have rejoined their families. That leaves the remains of 1,400 individuals without proper memorials. And according to the L.A. Times, these remains will be soon buried in a mass grave at the County cemetery in a service attended only by county employees and local media.

When L.A. County handles someone who has passed, they try their best to locate any relatives. The relatives are then given the option to take ownership of the body and plan their own memorial fitting of the deceased. If the family cannot afford the associated mortuary fees, however, the county covers the cost of cremation.

The task of matching the deceased with their family isn’t always an easy one. Some families, when contacted, don’t want to pick up their relatives and opt to let the county cover the cremation expense. Some families, according to the L.A. Times piece, are only interested in picking up the death certificate which allows them to take ownership of the deceased’s property. For the majority of the deceased, however, family members never show up to claim the body or the remains. Of the more than 1,800 who were cremated by L.A. County in 2011, only 440 have been claimed, leaving 1,400 individual’s remains to be buried.

There are other issues at play here, including a spate of family members unwilling to settle the affairs of their departed loved ones. There’s also the issue, however, of L.A. County being slow to convert their paper records to a digital and searchable record. While there are families who shy away from the responsibility of memorializing their loved ones, there are likely some who have been looking for their family member and haven’t been able to find them. One caretaker at Boyle Heights Cemetery named Albert Gaskin has been in charge of cataloging each of the deceased who have passed through the doors. Though he’s written down the information of every deceased person since 1970, this list has only been searchable since 2011, and even then, not every name is available.

While this story was intended to highlight the difficulty in marrying the technology of today with the record keeping of yesteryear, the saddest aspect has to be that there are those whose time in this life goes unrecognized. Each of us, with our myriad experiences and personalities, deserves a memorial befitting the life that was lived. This possibility is mute for these 1,400 souls and for many others, both before and to come. However, for those with the means, planning a memorial in the form of an expertly designed and crafted mausoleum will ensure their life and their legacy are never not remembered.

The professionals at Forever Legacy have helped their many clients to create a monument befitting of their important and exceptional existence. Each individual or family can be assured of the highest quality materials crafted by the world’s master artisans while being provided the highest level of discretion by Forever Legacy. If you have questions or are ready to begin planning your eternal memorial, contact Forever Legacy today for a private consultation: (800) 298-4188