Authorities finish search of crematorium for corpses

Authorities have finished excavating and searching the grounds of Tri-State Crematory in Georgia, where more than 300 corpses were discarded and left to rot.

Searchers have examined the remaining few feet of water in a lake that had been nearly drained.

A skull and a torso were found earlier in the lake, but officials didn't expect to find many more remains.

Investigators began clearing and combing the 16-acre property on February 15 after bodies were discovered near the site.

So far, 339 rotting corpses have been discovered in pits, sheds and stacked in vaults.

Crematory operator Ray Marsh, 28, has been jailed on 174 counts of theft by deception for allegedly taking payment to cremate the dead and instead passing off cement powder and dirt as human ashes.

Dr Kris Sperry, chief medical examiner, said 108 corpses have been identified.