The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office says it stepped in to help hundreds more families in 2020 than the year before because so many were left impoverished by the pandemic.
“It was a pretty difficult year,” Rebeca Perrone, the M.E.’s indigent coordinator, said Tuesday.
If remains are not claimed for 45 days, they are cremated at county expense and then kept one year before burial. The hope is that family will be able to claim the remains during that year.
“Families are still struggling with loss of jobs and no income to make arrangements,” Perrone said. “And a lot of times these deaths are catching families off-guard, and they don’t have the means to make arrangements.”
In 2019, the M.E.’s Office cremated the remains of 468 persons. Last year, 752. That is 60% more.
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