Kane Co. coroner announces second unclaimed cremains burial

Kane County Coroner Rob Russell announced that 10 more cremains will be added to the St. Charles Township Cemetery crypt.

A non-denominational service and entombment is planned for 11 a.m. Friday, May 22. The cemetery is at 1200 N. Fifth Ave. in St. Charles.

Two years ago, Coroner Russell facilitated the entombment of 41 unclaimed remains from his office and several others from area funeral homes.

Soon after highlighting the problem, St. Charles Township Supervisor John Arthur Anderson presented the solution: An empty, unused tomb that had already been paid for. Originally, 47 cremains were discovered in the Kane County Coroner's Office storage unit but six were able to be reunited with families.

This discovery of the cremains prompted Russell to enlist the help of the media in hopes of uniting any of the unclaimed cremains with their next-of-kin. When the cremains story broke, it garnered international media attention.

People from near and far, came forward, inquiring about the cremains. A father was reunited with the cremains of his 2-month-old child, 26 years after his child's sudden death. Another set of cremains was shipped halfway around the world, to be reunited with next-of-kin in Australia.

As an added blessing to this entombment, one more cremain from the original list will be removed and reunited with a family member.

"My hope was that over time, additional families would come forth and claim their loved ones from the crypt," Russell said. "If we had buried in a mass grave or spread the ashes, this would not have been a possibility. Now this possibility has become reality due to this program."

With the fact that the state is discussing terminating funds for indigent burial, Russell also sees the partnership with the township as necessary.

"With the state being in the condition it is in, we have to find alternatives to take care of those who are indigent. Too many times, family members wind up walking away from the responsibility for burial. In those cases, Illinois law places the county as that funding source. With this township partnership, some of that cost has been mitigated," Russell said. "I would like to see all the townships that have cemeteries partner with me in the future."

Coroner Russell would like to thank St. Charles Township Supervisor John Arthur Anderson and the St. Charles Township Cemetery Board for being the first to do so.