Unclaimed Dead Put In Mass Grave

Forty-one forgotten and unclaimed victims of Chicago’s killer heat wave were given a pauper’s funeral Friday, laid to rest in simple plywood coffins in a mass grave that will be left unmarked.

“The longer you stand here and look at the number of people buried here, it just overwhelms you,” said a tearful Elaine Egdorff, walking through Homewood Memorial Cemetery with her granddaughter. “These people just didn’t have anyone.”

Few shed tears for the 68 people buried, including 27 other unclaimed bodies not linked to the heat that scorched the Chicago area and other states in July.

On the hottest day - July 13 - temperatures reached 106, and the homes of many elderly and infirm residents became ovens. The death toll stands at 580.