Crematory operator could face Tennessee charges

NOBLE, Georgia (CNN) -- Authorities in Tennessee said Wednesday that they expect to file charges against the operator of a northwest Georgia crematory as the search for discarded bodies on his property winds down.

Ray Brent Marsh already faces 174 counts of theft by deception in Walker County, Georgia, after 56 new counts were filed Tuesday, District Attorney Herbert E. "Buzz" Franklin said. Marsh is accused of not performing cremations he was paid to do.

Marsh, 28, is being held without bond in the Walker County Jail.

Investigators have recovered 339 sets of remains on the 16 acre grounds of the Tri-State Crematory. Of those, 100 have been identified.

Now, authorities in Bradley County, Tennessee, plan to file charges after learning that seven of the identified bodies were sent to the crematory by Tennessee funeral homes.

Sheriff Daniel Gilley said he expects to announce Monday what charges will be filed. Right now, he said, the district attorney's office is checking to see which state laws are applicable in the case. One possible charge would be felony abuse of a corpse.

Gilley said funeral homes in his county had sent about 120 bodies to Tri-State since 1996.

"We are appealing ... for help from the families of Bradley County and the surrounding area to help us identify more remains so more cases can be built," Gilley said

Search teams have almost finished excavating the property and are draining a lake where a submerged human head and torso have been found, but not recovered, Walker County Emergency Services Director David Ashburn said Tuesday.

Ashburn said that once the lake is excavated, investigators will be "pretty confident that we've pretty well turned up every bit of soil out there and have all of the recoveries of remains that are possible."