ANDERSON, S.C. — A burial service is scheduled Friday for unclaimed bodies in Anderson County.
The county will hold the service at 10 a.m. at the Civic Center Recycling Center in Anderson.
“Indigent burials are for those bodies that have gone unclaimed or funds were not available for their funeral arrangements, and are laid to rest,” the city’s communications director Teresa Bannister said in a news release.
It will be the first of many such services. The Anderson County Coroner's Office has identified 148 unclaimed, cremated remains in their possession, some dating back to 2013, Chief Deputy Coroner Don McCown told The Anderson Independent Mail.
“We cremate 15 to 27 a year,” McCown said. “There are a lot of people that have been estranged from their families.”
Friday’s initial burial will honor 113 people. The people will be commemorated with their names on a memorial style wall, and every three to six months, new names will be added as more cremated remains are interred on site, Anderson County Administrator Rusty Burns said.
“It’s important to have a place to be laid to rest with dignity and respect,” Burns said. “It is equally important to have a place to visit and to know that your loved one was provided a final resting place.”
Anderson County’s current indigent cemetery is at capacity, officials said.
The Anderson County Coroner’s Office has made every effort to contact the families and/or extended family members for the opportunity to receive their loved ones’ remains, news outlets reported.
The public is invited to attend the service.
