Editor’s Note
Hi friends,
I’ll keep today’s note short and sweet because, boy, do we have some treats headed your way soon for Halloweek.
In the meantime, GraveDigger members, we’re thrilled to announce the November 1 debut of our ‘Read in Peace’ Book Club, your complimentary companion to author Molly Horan’s monthly column of themed reading recs. Audience editor Charli K Elder will be in touch with an invite to chat about what you’d like included in your club experience, so keep an eye on your inbox.
And for everyone, we have an important story from Jason Collins on a horrific pattern of malpractice throughout America’s public disposition systems, which tend the unclaimed bodies belonging to foster children, homeless people, crime victims, poor residents, and more of the country’s most marginalized.
Thanks for being with us.
— Delaney + Team GraveSite
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Short Read · Feature
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When D.C. Sent Its Unclaimed Dead to Heaven Bound
The private crematory handled the bodies of thousands of the district’s most vulnerable. Its owners now face eight criminal charges for their practices, underscoring the steep shortfalls of public disposition in America.
Jason Collins
An electric cremator being used. Photo courtesy Georg Lippitsch
The findings read like something out of a horror novel: human bodies in stacked cardboard boxes or ripped bags, limbs spilling out. Blood on a refrigeration unit. Fluids on the floor.
In March 2024, the Maryland Board of Morticians and Funeral Directors sent an inspector to Heaven Bound Cremation Services following reports of improperly stored human remains. Over nearly a decade, officials had paid the crematory more than $900,000 to handle the bodies of thousands of Washington, D.C.’s deceased whose kin couldn’t be found or couldn’t afford private disposition services. The Washington Post reports Heaven Bound was D.C.’s sole cremation contractor.
Despite documented evidence of mistreatment and violations throughout their entire contract, Heaven Bound continued to operate for another 10 months following the Board investigation, then abruptly shuttered January 2025, leaving grieving families to locate the remains of their loved ones in a fragmented public system.
New Benefit!
Members Only
Our Drop-Dead Delightful Member Book Club Debuts November 1!
Death, grief, and intervening life can’t fit into a neat box, and neither can their stories. So each month, we’re bringing you an author-curated list of the best reads on a death matter of great import, plus an online book club built for GraveDiggers.
Members get automatic access to this year-round reading community for everyday mortals.
Every quarter: Vote on your next three reads. Win rad prizes for your astute contributions on club picks past.
Every month: Join the virtual book club discussion on the current selection, facilitated by our RIP curator in residence and featuring drop-in guests, on-theme goodies, and an optional silent reading hour to get those words in.
Every week: Respond to text prompts in the GraveSite member hub to deepen your reading experience.
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“Over at the new publication GraveSite, which covers the concept of death through a reporter’s eye, I posed a question I’ve thought about a lot over the years: How can you keep a person’s digital identity alive even if their physical identity is long gone?"
GraveSightings · Death News from Elsewhere
The #1 thing to do when someone is mourning, according to a grief festival convener.
MAID in America: In a recent panel, legal and clinical experts wrestled with the framework, ethics, and limits of the country’s expanding medical aid in dying practices.
Life before death: “Nearly 90% experience vivid visions of deceased loved ones, which patients rate as fully real and which cannot be dismissed as delirium.” That’s a key finding from neurobiologist Christopher Kerr’s three decades of research and 1,500 interviews with dying people.
Plus what we know — and don’t — about life after death.
“Man who died in ICE custody was denied medicine, his daughter says.” NYT reports.
The internet ain’t a dead zone; it’s a goddamn arms race.
Spooky szn sightings: Rare pics from 2000’s Rocky Horror revival. Horror films for when you wanna catch up on this year’s smash hits, see some great adaptations, laugh nervously, feel sexy spooky, or go off the deep end.
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Founder and Editor-in-Chief: Delaney Rebernik
Co-Founder and Executive Producer: Alexis Haut
Audience Editor: Charli K. Elder
Managing Editor: Jennifer Baik
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