The remains of 171 people from Marion County are unclaimed, but 'they all deserve worth'

One man has spent 15 years alone in death.

He is joined on a list with 170 other people in Marion County who died from 2006 to 2019. No one has claimed their remains. Soon each of them will be honored and reach their final disposition.

The Marion County Coroner’s Office and He Knows Your Name ministry on Friday announced plans for laying to rest the 171 cremated remains later this month.

"I find it unacceptable and heartbreaking,” said Linda Znachko, founder of He Knows Your Name. “Adults are left unclaimed at hospitals, coroner's offices and funeral homes, and not just here in the state of Indiana, but all over our country.”

Celebration of life for 171 people whose remains weren't claimed

A celebration of life will be at Antioch Indy Community Church at 10:30 a.m. Sept. 26. A procession will then drive to Oaklawn Memorial Gardens where the remains will be laid to rest in an ossuary.

A blessing will be given at the cemetery and Znachko will read each individual’s name. Znachko’s ministry and the Marion County Coroner’s Office have worked together on the event.

"I'm excited to finally move these decedents and their cremains process along,” Marion County Chief Deputy Coroner Alfie McGinty said. “It is also an honor, if that is possible, to reunify the family members of those decedents.”

Loved ones of the decedents are encouraged to call the Marion County Coroner’s Office at 317-327-4744 to be reunited with the remains.

"We have attempted to locate the families of those decedents,” McGinty said. “In some cases, there are no family members that are surviving the decedent. In other cases, families have had difficulty in finding resources to take care of those decedents, their loved ones."

Grief and other factors play a part in the remains of deceased going unclaimed, McGinty said.

The coroner’s office uses any means necessary to try and contact next of kin once they have a body in their custody, including social media and a national database.

More Indianapolis news:Woman fatally shot in front of children at day care on city's west side early Friday

More:Police used DNA under fingernails to make arrest 6 years after Indianapolis woman's homicide

How long does the Marion County Coroner's office keep a body before cremating it?

The coroner’s office will hold onto a body for at least 30 days, to give time for loved ones to come forward, before moving ahead with cremation. The 171 unclaimed cremains have been stored at the coroner’s office, McGinty said.

Moving forward, the coroner's office plans to identify funding on an annual basis to honor the lives of unclaimed decedents and lay them to rest at the Oaklawn Memorial Gardens’ ossuary.

Znachko’s involvement began in 2009 when she read a story about an unidentified baby who was found dead in a dumpster in downtown Indianapolis. Since then, she’s focused on bringing dignity and honor to deceased, unclaimed babies.

Through this work, Znachko learned about unclaimed adult remains in Marion County. Her ministry is contributing close to $18,000 to bury the 171 unclaimed remains.

"As children of God, I believe they all deserve worth and a final resting place,” Znachko said. “It is time. It is time for them to be honored and claimed in death. It is my desire to raise awareness and educate about this epidemic."

Family and friends of the unclaimed decedents, as well as the general public, are invited to the celebration of life and burial event.

"These are people that have been alone in death and somewhat forgotten,” Znachko said. “I would love for us, as a community, to come together and create community for them. We can come together and stand as family.”

Znachko hopes the event will be an example for funeral homes, hospitals and other coroner’s offices across the country to show unclaimed remains can be laid to rest with dignity. Another goal is to let the public know there are affordable options for burying loved ones, she said.

"The standstill is just causing accumulation and there is no respect for human remains to be sitting on a shelf somewhere,” Znachko said. "We cannot ignore this crisis any longer because every life matters."

Below are the names and dates of deaths for the decedents whose remains have gone unclaimed from the Marion County Coroner's Office from 2006 to 2019. Loved ones of the decedents on the list are encouraged to call the Marion County Coroner’s Office at 317-327-4744 to be reunited with the remains.  

Contact Jake Allen at jake.allen@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jake_Allen19.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Unclaimed remains of 171 people in Marion County to be laid to rest