Crematory lake draining could turn up more corpses

The cost of recovery and investigation at the Tri-State Crematory could exceed $9 million.

NOBLE, Georgia (CNN) -- The draining of a lake at a Georgia crematory where more corpses may have been dumped could begin as early as Monday, officials say.

A human skull and torso already have been found in the 3-acre, 6-million-gallon lake -- just one of the recent grisly discoveries on the premises of Tri-State Crematory in Noble, northwest Georgia.

To date, investigators have found 339 bodies on the 16-acre grounds, some stacked 10 high in outbuildings, others in shallow graves and more dumped in the woods. They have identified 84.

Asked what they might find once the lake is drained, one official with the Georgia Emergency Management Agency said, "That's anybody's guess."

Crematory owner Ray Brent Marsh, 28, remains in the Walker County jail, charged with 118 counts of fraud and theft by deception. He is accused of dumping the bodies, which were intended for cremation.

Marsh, who took over the crematory for his father in 1996, initially told authorities the incinerator had not worked for some time, according to a spokesman for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

The siphoning of Marsh's lake will start Monday if chlorine levels in the water are acceptable, authorities said. The chemical was used to kill fish in the lake to make it easier to find corpses.

The draining, which should take 48 to 72 hours, will be done by a vacuum siphon similar to rubber tubes used to drain household aquariums, but with main tubes that are 8 inches in diameter.

Water will be siphoned into the lake's tributaries, which flow into reservoirs not used for public drinking water.

Excavation will not begin until the lake bed is completely dried -- expected to take about two weeks -- and authorities said they will use the care of an archaeological dig to search for bodies in the dried mud.

Thirty funeral homes in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee had sent bodies to the crematory over two decades. Legal experts said the facility escaped regulation because it did not do business directly with the public, working instead through funeral homes.

The Georgia Emergency Management Agency has estimated the final cost of the recovery and investigation, which could last months, will cost the state $9.4 million. A GEMA statement said it is working with federal emergency management officials and Georgia's congressional delegation to press for federal aid.

CNN Investigative Correspondent Art Harris contributed to this report.