LA County to honor 1,780 unclaimed dead Wednesday

Los Angeles County volition clasp an online ceremonial connected Wednesday, Dec. 1,  to people the burial of 1,780 radical who died successful 2018 but whose remains went unclaimed by relatives oregon loved ones.

Supervisor Janice Hahn, who volition talk during the memorial, asked that Tuesday’s gathering of the Board of Supervisors beryllium adjourned successful representation of the dead.

“The ceremonial is portion of a committedness that the region has upheld since 1896 to guarantee that everyone successful Los Angeles County, nary substance their means, is laid to remainder with respect and dignity. They whitethorn person near this satellite alone, but they were 1 of us,” Hahn said, her dependable breaking and quavering, “and our work to grant their lives and grieve their deaths falls to us.”

Last year’s interfaith remembrance was besides virtual owed to wellness concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The work is scheduled to see the Lord’s Prayer successful English, Spanish, Vietnamese and Ukrainian and prayers, songs and blessings by a rabbi, an iman, a Native American sage and chaplains from respective Christian denominations. It volition beryllium livestreamed connected Facebook astatine 10 a.m. astatine https://www.facebook.com/events/424531369300503/.

The individuals to beryllium honored astatine the Los Angeles County Crematory and Cemetery successful Boyle Heights died successful 2018. The region mostly holds the cremated remains for 3 years earlier burial to let household members and loved ones a accidental to assertion them. The ashes were placed successful a azygous wide sedate a mates of days earlier and a marker indicating the twelvemonth of cremation volition beryllium placed atop the plot.

Though the numbers bash not bespeak deaths related to the pandemic, the full is astir 20% higher than the mean implicit the anterior 5 years from 2016-2020. The full of unclaimed dormant was beneath 1,500 until past year, erstwhile 1,547 individuals were unclaimed by household oregon friends.