NEWSCHANNEL 5 Investigation: The Unknowns

People who are unidentified at death end up in paupers' graves

PENITAS - Dozens of unidentified, or unclaimed bodies, are being stored in morgues across the Valley.

The main reason is because the Texas Attorney General ordered the bodies can't be cremated. Before May 2007, funeral directors could cremate the bodies and its cost was $250. Now the bodies must be buried, which costs about $2,500. There's also more paperwork that needs to be filed to declare the deceased a pauper. It all takes time and the bodies are stacking up.