Authorities start draining lake on crematory grounds

Georgia crematory operator to stay in jail

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

LAFAYETTE, Georgia (CNN) -- Investigators began draining a lake on the grounds of the Tri-State Crematory on Monday. Authorities decided to drain the 3-acre, 9-million-gallon lake after search teams using infrared cameras and underwater radar found a submerged human head and torso.

Siphoning off the water was delayed until authorities were sure that the chlorine that was used to kill fish in the lake had been diluted to safe levels, Georgia Emergency Management Agency Director Gary McConnell said.

It is expected to take two or three days to completely drain the lake, he said.

The processes involves a vacuum siphon, a large version of the small rubber tubes used to drain household aquariums. The main tubes 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 -- which could take as long as two weeks -- and authorities said they will use as much care as in an archaeological dig to search for bodies in the dried mud.

Meanwhile, the operator of a northwest Georgia crematory accused of dumping hundreds of bodies instead of cremating them will remain in jail, after a judge Monday denied his request for bail.

Ray Brent Marsh, 28, was seeking bail on 102 new counts of theft by deception. Those charges were filed last Tuesday after Walker County Chief Magistrate William J. Day granted Marsh $100,000 bail on 16 earlier charges. (Full Story)

Authorities have recovered 339 bodies from the grounds of the Tri-State Crematory in Noble. Of those, 82 have been identified.

Thirty funeral homes in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee 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. An agency statement said it is working with federal emergency management officials and Georgia's congressional delegation to press for federal aid.