Stricken widow fears worst over grim discovery at Georgia funeral home

A grieving Georgia widow has been left in despair after the director of a funeral home, where her late husband was cremated, was arrested for abusing corpses.

Chris Johnson, 39, the owner of Johnson Funeral & Cremation Services, was charged with 17 counts of abuse of a dead body on Sunday, after an appalling discovery of 18 decaying bodies were uncovered from a cooler inside the facility.

The ordeal has become a living nightmare for family members of the recently deceased in the local area - including Douglas-native, Donna Harper.

The 66-year-old widow is now fearing the worst after reading about the grotesque discovery in a Facebook post - and is working to get her husband's ashes tested. 

Along with the many distressed and decomposing bodies found at 'various stages of decomposition' investigators uncovered 'more than one child, a dog and a cat' stored inside the cooler. 

Deputies were serving an eviction notice at the time of the discovery as Johnson reportedly stopped paying rent on the property leading to his removal.

The warrant for Johnson's arrest stated he had 'knowingly and willfully defaced a dead body while the body is prepared for burial, showing, or cremation in a funeral establishment.'

Adding that 'willful negligence in his duties as a funeral home director and intentional disregard of proper storage' led to remains being kept for excessive periods, resulting in severe disfigurement of 17 bodies. 

Johnson was denied bail.

Now, what started as an eviction notice turned quickly into a nightmare for 18 families as many are left wondering if they even have the remains of their loved ones.

Donna Harper told the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, that her husband, Gary, passed away in June and his services were later held on July 3 in the chapel at Johnson Funeral & Cremation Services - the very funeral parlor where the authorities found the decomposing bodies.

Following the services her husband was to be cremated and sometime after she received his ashes - or what she thought to be his ashes.

Afraid in the wake of the disturbing revelation, Harper has since turned her husband's ashes to the police as she seeks clarity on whether or not her husband was one of the several bodies discovered or if his remains are in the urn she received months ago.

'I’m waiting for the call,' Harper fearfully told the publication on Tuesday. 'It’s bad when you can’t sleep because you don’t know if it’s your loved one or your loved ones laying there decaying.'

But it may be awhile as the bodies had to be transferred to an out-of-town lab to undergo a thorough identification process set to begin with the final bodies being delivered Tuesday, according to Chief Deputy Fred Cole of the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office.

'I’ll be honest with you: I hope the man rots in hell for what he’s done. … It takes a sick person, a very sick person, to do something like this,' Harper said fighting through tears.  

Earlier this year, Johnson ran for the county coroner post but was defeated receiving just under 29 percent of the vote, the Atlanta-Journal Constitution reported.

After the election, Johnson announced plans to run again in four years.

As of last week, no complaints against Johnson had ever been filed with the secretary of state, according to the agency’s website. As of now, it is not immediately clear whether or not Johnson has hired an attorney or if he has entered a plea.

Johnson remains in police custody.