KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Around 600 people are dead and unclaimed by loved ones across Tennessee, lying in state custody. More than half of those people are from East Tennessee, according to authorities.
According to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), one of the unclaimed is Anna Spencer. She died in Knoxville around four years ago. Her family was located, but they did not claim her body. Her remains are still in the Knox County mausoleum. Another, Robert Caldwell, died around seven years ago in Knoxville. He was 66 years old, and his family was never found.
"Everybody since 2016 that has gone unclaimed has an unclaimed profile in NamUs because either I have created them or my predecessor created them," said Megan Sharpe, who works with the Knox County Forensic Center. "There are various reasons people go unclaimed. Sometimes, families can't afford arrangements. Other times, their next of kin is a distant relative."
Around 400 unclaimed bodies in East Tennessee are waiting to be reunited with loved ones. Some of them are military veterans.
"We have laid to rest probably around 99 veterans since 2011," said Jeff Berry, from the Berry Funeral Home. "These gentlemen and ladies had no one to claim them. They had no family. So today, we are standing in as their family."
The funeral home routinely hosts ceremonies to bury veterans, like Steven Johnson who died at 62 years old with full military honors, but was unclaimed in death. He was buried at the veterans' cemetery on John Sevier Highway.
"It's a humbling thing to be able to put this together. And, if we can play a small part and recognize our nation's veterans, then that brings us the ability to say, 'I see you,'" said Berry.
Both Berry and Sharpe said that their work is meant to show the unclaimed that their lives mattered — no matter whether they were homeless, housed or whatever their pasts held.
"We're not here to judge any of it. We're just trying to reunite who should be reunited," said Spencer.