Coroner: Unclaimed Bodies Costing Taxpayers Thousands

The Benton County coroner says there's been an increase in the number of people who die and whose bodies are never claimed by families, even when families live nearby.

Coroner John Hansens told KEPR-TV families who refuse to pay stick the county with a $500 bill for cremation.

Hansens says he has sympathy for indigent families in hard times, but to protect taxpayers he'll have to start taking the families to small claims court.

"That's not what we want to do, but we also have to protect the taxpayers who can end up fitting the bill," Hansens tells KEPR.

Inside an unassuming closet, there are dozens of people who died and were never claimed by a loved one.

"We're walking a fine line helping people through tough times, but actually helping people that pay the bills," says Coroner John Hansens.

Benton County's coroner says no one has been taken to small claims court yet. But if more poor souls are buried under the county's dime, the ending could be unhappy for everyone.

Coroner John Hansens tells us the bad economy is the main reason why fewer people are willing to pay for their loved one's burial.

SOURCE: http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Coroner-Unclaimed-bodies-costing-taxpayers-thousands-134825228.html