An Oregon newspaper, “The Oregonian” has created the country’s first searchable database of the state’s Indigent Burial Fund, with the names of people whose bodies were unclaimed and cremated or who’s bodies were donated to the OHSU anatomy lab from January 2000 to the present. The Oregonian is releasing this information so that families may find lost relatives — or at least learn the final chapter of their history.
As families are able to locate their missing loved ones, bittersweet stories are emerging.