Since the gruesome discovery of 339 corpses, which were thrown away instead of cremated, at the Tri-State Crematory beginning on February 15, 2002. Many families of thse departed souls have been left behind to both mourn and wonder why such a grisly event could take place.

Tri-State Crematory is the facility in Lafayette, Georgia, which was used by over 30 different funeral homes located in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee. No one would´ve ever suspected what was going on at the crematorium, had not the remains of a skull and torso floated to the top of the water, which was found by authorities on the private lake owned by Ray Brent Marsh. Ray Brent Marsh´s
family owns the Tri-State Crematory and this lake is situated on the 16-acre wooded property owned by Marsh.

After the discovery of the floating skull and torso, investigators combed the
area, and to this day have come up with 339 corpses on the family estate. Some of the rotting corpses were found stacked in piles, and the date on some of the remains, went as far back in time as fifteen years. Other corpses were found in vaults, sheds, and in shallow graves and pits.

Since the firt initial discovery of the skull and torso on the lake, numerous other ghastly finds have been made, and the body count is presently whopping
in size. When the corpses were found, Ray Brent Marsh, who is the crematory operator for his family´s business. It was Marsh, who was the first, to give
law enforcement officials an explanation to the corpse question. He stated to them that the cremation incinerator had broken down over the years and that his family never got it repaired. Also that the cost of a new device would be about $40,000.

Authorities have been in the process of draining the 3-acre lake since Monday, which is about 8-feet deep, in an effort to retrieve more hidden bodies. Ray Brent Marsh is presently in custody at Walker County Jail, while he is being held without bond, and facing a total of 174 charges of theft by deception.
An additional 54 charges were filed against Marsh as well on Tuesday.

Now the latest development at the crematory is that the alleged "broken" incinerator, isn´t really broken as Marsh said it was, and this was confirmed after the machine was successfully tested last week. So the cremation incinerator is in fine shape and operational. Why then did Ray Brent Marsh lie?

This newest bit of information only adds that much more mystery, to an event that isn´t only creepy in detail, but becoming more a dark mystery as the days go by. It is also been said by prosecutor Buzz Franklin, that Marsh had photos of decomposing bodies on his office computer, which were found by investigators. Exactly why the crematory operator had these photos stored is of course anyone´s guess?

One thing for certain though, this is definitely one of the grimmest tales to ever hit the news in a long time, and surely one of the most bizarre crimes to ever disgrace the state of Georgia. Not only has this crematory caused immense pain and grief for the loved ones of those, who´s remains have been uncovered on the Marsh family property, but it has left many with a "haunted" impression too.Those who reside in Walker County are no doubt feeling mortification and shock that something so "repulsive" could happen in their midst. Something that isn´t likely to leave their thoughts for a long time to come.