Photographer’s Grim Discovery Inside Abandoned Funeral Home Sparks Police Investigation

Photographer Ben James discovered over 30 bags of cremains and a fetus inside the abandoned funeral home near Atlanta.

A photographer’s gruesome discovery inside an abandoned funeral home has sparked a police investigation after he took pictures of human remains on the site.

Traveling photographer Ben James found dozens of cremated ashes as well as a human fetus inside the Norman Medford Peden Funeral Home and Crematory in Marietta, Georgia.

According to local reports, six agencies are now investigating and looking for family members after James found bank statements for people who had paid for burials.

“I had no idea there were SO many boxes of ashes,” James tells PetaPixel. “I’m used to a few per place but this was over 30 boxes. Seeing the human fetus was quite surreal but that is the way of these places, you never know what you’ll find.”

The funeral home is badly damaged after a fire earlier this year, the ceiling has partially collapsed.

Multiple bags of ashes were found including this one that looks like it has just come from a funeral.

James also found this prep room.

After James shared his photos of the funeral home to Reddit, someone recognized the building and reported it to the police. “I never name a place or do external,” adds James.

Editor’s Note: The photographer shared the fetus image with PetaPixel. The image could be upsetting so we have linked to it here. You have been warned.

The funeral home closed after a fire gutted the building in April and since then 35 boxes of cremains have been sitting inside along with death certificates and personal information.

“There are boxes, there are folders, file drawers. Everything you would imagine there to be in a fully functioning funeral home, embalming area, and a crematory, certainly there’s a tremendous amount of chemicals,” Marietta Police Officer Chuck McPhilamy tells Fox5 Atlanta.

“As far as I know, when it was closed it was deemed that nothing was inside as far as remains so it was a lie and they were embarrassed they were found out,” adds James. “The owner apparently fled with some money and can’t be found. Just a very cool but surreal explore.”

The authorities are now trying to track down the families of those affected while determining whether a criminal offense has taken place.

More of James’s work can be found on his Instagram and Tiktok.

Image credits: Photographs by Ben/places_forgotten