Cremation investigation affecting Georgia funeral directors

ATLANTA -- Georgia funeral directors are deluged with phone calls from customers anxious for assurance their loved ones&#39; cremations were handled correctly as authorities remove a horrifying collection of corpses from a Walker County crematory.<br> <br> Funeral directors said Monday they understood the concern, but they called the situation at Tri-State Crematory in Noble a grimly singular incident unlikely to occur elsewhere.<br> <br> Still, for funeral directors in northwest Georgia, the problem can be painfully close.<br> <br> &#39;&#39;They&#39;re very distraught, and so are we,&#39;&#39; said Jane Peeples, whose family operates Julian Peeples Funeral Home in Dalton. &#39;&#39;It&#39;s heartbreaking to tell a family you used that crematory. When the phone rings, you just hope you used another crematory.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> The Dalton funeral home, which recently opened its own crematory in Chatsworth, has discovered 16 people who were sent to Tri-State since 1996. Peeples said Tri-State &#39;&#39;always had everything in order&#39;&#39; with its documentation, which caused no suspicion.<br> <br> Authorities have removed 130 corpses from Tri-State since a tip to the Environmental Protection Division Friday afternoon prompted a search. Investigators believe some of the corpses were piled at the crematory for up to 15 years.<br> <br> &#39;&#39;My phone&#39;s been ringing off the hook,&#39;&#39; said Max Cochran, who owns a crematory and four funeral homes around Blairsville. Callers want to know if he&#39;s ever used Tri-State. They&#39;ve been assured he hasn&#39;t.<br> <br> &#39;&#39;This thing is very isolated, I hope,&#39;&#39; Cochran said. &#39;&#39;It&#39;s ludicrous. I mean, just think of it. There&#39;s no reason for it. It just screams, &#39;Something&#39;s wrong.&#39; Apparently, this is one that slipped through the cracks.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Robert Ninker, executive director of the Funeral Ethics Association in Springfield, Ill., said the cremation industry has largely avoided the regulations under which funeral directors operate.<br> <br> &#39;&#39;Anyone who is dealing with a dead human body needs to have training, they need to be licensed, they need to have periodic inspections, they need to have oversight,&#39;&#39; Ninker said, calling the Walker County case &#39;&#39;outrageous.&#39;&#39;<br>