A body stolen from a West Side funeral home Sunday night was recovered Tuesday morning after a thief or thieves moved the corpse to a cemetery in the western suburb of Hillside.
Bennie Morris, 47, of the 4800 block of West Washington Street, died July 27. Family members were viewing what they thought was his body Monday when his sister Barbara Green noticed that the man dressed in her brother’s black hat and gold shirt was a stranger.
“I knew right away it wasn’t him,” Green said.
Officials at the Corbin Colonial Funeral Chapel at 5345 West Madison St. said witnesses saw a man fitting the description of a disgruntled former employee of the funeral home move a body into a waiting vehicle Sunday night.
When workers went to dress Morris on Monday, they tended to the only man left in the room. The cadaver had the same complexion and facial hair as Morris, officials said.
Morris’ relatives said they spent a tense night Monday worrying about what had befallen Morris.
“I was just frantic,” said sister Delores Morris.
Police said a groundskeeper at Oakridge Cemetery in Hillside found a dead man in a body bag on a gurney behind some monuments around 7 a.m. Tuesday. Chicago Police detectives in the Grand Central area property crimes unit were able to connect the groundskeeper’s find with Morris’ missing body.
A man was being questioned by police Tuesday afternoon in connection with the theft, a felony, police said. Funeral home officials said no ransom had been asked for the body.
“I think it was just gross behavior,” Corbin funeral director Durand Corbin said of the crime. “We’re just pleased to have the body back.”
Morris’ survivors gathered at the funeral home for the second time in two days late Tuesday morning, this time to view the real Bennie Morris. Arthur Cook, one of Morris’ six brothers, shook his head in disbelief outside the viewing room.
“It’s like something out of a Vincent Price movie,” Cook said.
