More than half of crematory grounds still unsearched as corpse searchers grow weary

<br>NOBLE, Ga. (AP) _ So far, investigators have discovered 331 corpses on the grounds of a Georgia crematory but say more than half the property still needs to be searched. <br><br>It could be late summer

Tuesday, February 26th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NOBLE, Ga. (AP) _ So far, investigators have discovered 331 corpses on the grounds of a Georgia crematory but say more than half the property still needs to be searched.

It could be late summer before all the bodies are identified, authorities said Monday as recovery teams completed their 11th day of scouring the Tri-State Crematory. Some workers are growing weary and occasionally sick as the emotional toll mounts.

``Everybody involved in this process, from the word go, is suffering some kind of emotional strain,'' said David Ashburn, the Walker County emergency director. ``It's things that you and I were never meant to be exposed to.''

Crematory operator Ray Brent Marsh, 28, is charged with 16 counts of theft by deception for allegedly accepting payment for cremations he never performed. He remained in jail Monday, but Magistrate Judge Jerry Day was expected to release a decision Tuesday on whether Marsh would be eligible for bail.

Officials estimated they had searched only three or four acres of the Tri-State grounds, which comprise at least eight acres, excluding buildings and a small lake. Authorities are working on a plan to drain the lake.

Meanwhile, family members lined up to give blood samples, hoping their DNA would help investigators identify more bodies. Only 70 of the 331 corpses have been identified.

Dr. Kris Sperry, the chief Georgia medical examiner, said a full database will not be complete until late summer.

``This is a very slow, time-consuming process because of the volume of tests that have to be done,'' he said.

Donating blood for a DNA test meant fresh grief for Elaine Bray of Chattanooga, Tenn., who arrived at the county civic center down the road from Tri-State with a mug of small pebbles _ part of which she thought were the remains of her brother, who died four years ago.

``All I wanted to do is give him a proper death,'' she said. ``This is what I got.''

Eddie Young of Crystal River, Fla., said he hoped DNA testing might tell him for sure whether the body of his mother, who died in November, was left to decompose on the grounds of the crematory.

``I know her soul went to heaven, but to think that my mother might be out there _ it's so hard to accept,'' he said. ``We had our closure through the funeral, and now it's like it's reopened.''