A routine eviction notice at Johnson Funeral Home in Douglas, Georgia, led to a shocking discovery of 18 decomposing bodies and the subsequent arrest of the funeral director, Chris Johnson, on multiple felony charges.
On October 26, 2024, deputies discovered the bodies, including children’s remains, in varying stages of decomposition inside a cooler at the funeral home located at 2760 U.S. Hwy. 441 South. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) charged 39-year-old Johnson with 17 counts of abuse of a dead body.
The investigation shed light on the fact that several families had unknowingly received false cremated remains, while the actual bodies remained in the cooler.
A Douglas resident, Sherri Thomas, reported not having received the death certificate she fully paid for from Chris Johnson. After making numerous unsuccessful attempts to contact him, she expressed doubts about the authenticity of the remains she received.
Many individuals had to resort to legal threats to obtain their loved ones’ death certificates.
A local resident named “Janell,” who had engaged the funeral home’s services, shared her experience of repeated visits to the funeral home. Despite seeing Johnson’s car parked on the premises, she received no response to her calls or knocks on the door. It was only after threatening legal action that she received the death certificates nearly a year later.
Angela Howell, a neighbor to the funeral home, said of Johnson, “He seemed like such a good person when we first met him.” She expressed disbelief upon reading the news on WALB, stating, “That can’t be.”
Johnson had a clean professional record. He obtained his license as a funeral service apprentice in 2014 and became a licensed funeral director and embalmer in 2016. No complaints had been filed against him before this incident. In May 2024, he had unsuccessfully contested for the position of Coffee County coroner.
The arrest warrant indicates Johnson’s “willful negligence” and “intentional disregard of proper storage” of the remains, causing significant disfigurement of the deceased. A judge has ordered Johnson to be held without bail due to the severity of the charges.
In addition to the human remains, investigators also found two deceased pets on the property. The Coffee County Sheriff’s Office and the GBI are working together to identify all the bodies and inform the affected families.
As the investigation progresses, more charges are expected. Once complete, the case will be sent to the Waycross Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.
In a similar incident, owners of a Colorado funeral home recently pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges. They were accused of misusing nearly $900,000 in pandemic relief funds and deceiving clients. The investigation into the case led authorities to discover 190 decomposing bodies stored in their funeral home.