Man in Crematory Case Granted Bail
Tue Feb 26,11:01 AM ET
By ERIN McCLAM, Associated Press Writer
NOBLE, Ga. (AP) - A man charged with accepting payment for cremations, then leaving the corpses to rot on the grounds of a Georgia crematory, may go free on $100,000 bail, a judge ruled Tuesday.
Magistrate Judge Jerry Day said there was no evidence that Ray Brent Marsh was dangerous or posed a flight risk.
Marsh, 28, has been the operator of Tri-State Crematory in the northwest Georgia community of Noble since 1996. He is charged with 16 counts of theft by deception.
Prosecutors had argued Marsh should not be released because the intense outrage in the community would pose a danger to him. Marsh's attorney, Ken Poston, said concern for Marsh's safety was no reason to deny him freedom.
So far, investigators have discovered 331 corpses on the crematory grounds but say more than half the property still needs to be searched.
Authorities said Monday it could be late summer before all the bodies are identified. Some workers, in their 11th day of scouring the grounds, are growing weary and occasionally sick as the emotional toll mounts.
"Everybody involved in this process, from the word go, is suffering some kind of emotional strain," said David Ashburn, the Walker County emergency director. "It's things that you and I were never meant to be exposed to."
Officials estimated they had searched only three or four acres of the Tri-State grounds, which comprise at least eight acres, excluding buildings and a small lake. Authorities are working on a plan to drain the lake.
Family members lined up Monday to give blood samples, hoping their DNA would help investigators identify more bodies. Only 70 of the 331 corpses have been identified.
Dr. Kris Sperry, the chief Georgia medical examiner, said a full database will not be complete until late summer.
"This is a very slow, time-consuming process because of the volume of tests that have to be done," he said.
Donating blood for a DNA test meant fresh grief for Elaine Bray of Chattanooga, Tenn., who arrived at the county civic center down the road from Tri-State with a mug of small pebbles — part of which she thought were the remains of her brother, who died four years ago.
"All I wanted to do is give him a proper death," she said. "This is what I got."
Eddie Young of Crystal River, Fla., said he hoped DNA testing might tell him for sure whether the body of his mother, who died in November, was left to decompose on the grounds of the crematory.
"I know her soul went to heaven, but to think that my mother might be out there — it's so hard to accept," he said. "We had our closure through the funeral, and now it's like it's reopened."
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On the Net:
Information for families:
http://www.gema.state.ga.us
Walker County sheriff:
http://www.co.walker.ga.us/cd_14.htm
Georgia Bureau of Investigation:
http://www.state.ga.us/gbi
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Doesn't it seem like it would've taken more of an effort to bury the bodies than to burn them? 
They granted the dude bail
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