For most of the Web 2.0 generation, it’s unfathomable that a person could die and go unnoticed, but it’s happening more and more often. It’s hard to pin down national numbers because each state defines their own statistics, but as current economic hardship persists, homelessness rates have risen by as much as 14%, even in states thought to be “well-off” like Oregon. Of course, there are people who qualify as homeless that are only experiencing minor economic difficulties, and through their social connections manage to shack-up with a friend or relative until they can find something to call their own. However, there are those, the “chronically homeless,” that truly live on the street and have few if any social connections to their next of kin.

Death, of course, is something to which no person is immune. For the majority of Americans, their family will enact their chosen death rites, whether it be burial or cremation or something else. So what happens to those who die and have no contact with their family, or die without any evidence of their identity?

1) The Search for Next of Kin

When a person dies and their identity is fairly clear a search for family members will begin as if they were trying to track down an old friend. Typical methods are internet searches, phone book searches, town records, post office records, and so on. When the family is found, they’ll be asked where and how they want the body buried. The family, of course, will be liable for the cost. Given the long economic depression, families are increasingly either unable or unwilling to pay for the costs of burial.

Persons with no ID or very little information can make the search for the next of kin very difficult. Because the process can be very long, bodies will usually be kept in the freezer of the Medical Examiner.

2) Burial or Cremation

Each state or community has its own funds that it spends on burying or cremating the indigent. Because of the cost savings of cremation, this is more popular option, but often communities run out of money. When the fund runs out, bodies either wait in the freezer at the Medical Examiner’s office or go on to one of next options.

3) Body Farm

Body Farms are facilities where cadavers are taken to decompose in various situations for the purposes of study. Both medical students and law enforcement officers benefit from seeing bodies decompose, and because body farms help solve violent crimes, a number of people willingly donate their bodies to these facilities. The University of Tennessee at Knoxville and other institutions source some of their bodies from unclaimed cadavers, however, the farms can only handle so many bodies, and with more and more people wanting to donate their bodies, unclaimed cadavers are not in high demand.

4) Medical University

Medical students, nursing students, and chiropractic students usually have access to cadaver labs, where they will at least see if not actually dissect human cadavers. These labs are vital to a lot of their careers, and in a lot of places medical universities are in need of cadavers. If you are considering a massive heroine bender in the near future, you should consider donating. Many bodies are donated, but a large number of them are unclaimed cadavers.

The tragic combination of the economic downturn, increased interest in donation for research, and limited funding for indigent burial have led to an increasing number of unclaimed cadavers going into deep-freeze. From their chilly catacombs they wait, for either somebody to claim them, or for somebody to decide their final resting place.

Charity idea? Adopt-a-body.

Blair Williams blogs about Japan and the History of Science over at www.jettisoned.net