Police found 2 bodies in Clark Morgan's minivan years before gruesome discovery at Chicago funeral home

Newly uncovered video shows that, two years before dozens of decomposing bodies were found inside the South Chicago Chapel funeral home, police in nearby Evergreen Park found two bodies in the owners' minivan outside their home.

The follow-up investigation raised a red flag that apparently was ignored.

Around 1:45 a.m. on June 14, 2024, an Evergreen Park police officer on patrol spotted a minivan double-parked outside Clark and Johanna Morgan's home and noticed a stench coming from the vehicle.

A second officer pulled up to help a short time later, and the two confirmed together what they were seeing inside the minivan was real – two dead bodies in the back.

"Tell me what this looks like. Those are two bodies right?" one officer said in body camera footage from the incident.

"A thousand percent," the other officer said.

As more officers arrived on scene, police ran the minivan's plate, which showed the vehicle was owned by Clark Morgan.

The same Clark Morgan that the CBS News Chicago investigative team exposed seven months later for mishandling bodies at Heights Crematory in Chicago Heights, a business he was running with his wife, Johanna Morgan, until the Illinois State Comptroller's Office – which regulates crematories in Illinois – shut them down in 2025.

At Heights Crematory, bodies were improperly stored in trailers, stacked on top of each other with body parts exposed and covered in bugs. One man had been dead an entire year.

The Morgans lost their license to operate that crematorium in 2025, but were still able to own and run the South Chicago Chapel funeral home on the South Side of Chicago.

Last month, the funeral home was also shut down after 56 decomposing bodies were found inside.

After Evergreen Park police found two bodies inside Clark Morgan's minivan outside their home, both Clark and Johanna Morgan spoke to the officers.

"Do you have contact info for their next of kin?" an officer asked.

But Johanna Morgan at first declined to give that information to police.

"I'm not giving you that information. That's ridiculous. I've been doing this for 27 years. I've lived in this village my entire life," Johanna Morgan said.

Clark Morgan told police he was in the process of transporting the bodies from a hospice care facility to Heights Crematory.

He even showed them his state license claiming to be a licensed funeral director and embalmer intern. 

"They both have credentials," an officer said.

But how carefully did police check Clark Morgan's credentials? His state license to transport bodies was officially revoked two months before police found the bodies in his minivan.

State disciplinary records revealed Morgan was fined $10,000 for using that expired funeral director's and embalmer's intern license after he was caught transporting bodies at a hospital. In addition, his license had been altered. Morgan had changed the expiration date to make it appear valid.

The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), which regulates funeral directors, said whatever Clark Morgan handed Evergreen Park officers on the night the bodies were found in his minivan could not have been valid.

Further investigation the day after the incident revealed a conversation with Cook County Medical Examiner's chief investigator, who told Evergreen Park police he had "filed numerous complaints against Heights Crematory for unprofessional practices."

In the end, the officers bought the Morgans' story but still pressed them to identify the bodies in the minivan.

"Just so I can document it in my report," an officer said.

"It's like a hospital, it's HIPAA. Nope," Johanna Morgan said. "The family didn't give you the information, they gave it to me. We keep it safe."

Evergreen Park police later discovered Clark Morgan's license was invalid, but neither police nor Cook County prosecutors filed any criminal charges for that, which IDFPR said they could have.

Police also found out the identities of the bodies in the minivan and contacted relatives.