‘Angels’ provide burials for 2 of 4 unclaimed bodies in Lake County morgue

• Reprints

Updated: March 19, 2012 8:05AM

Crediting “angels with wings on their hearts,” Lake County Chief Deputy Coroner P.J. Adams said two of four abandoned bodies in the morgue have been claimed.

“Your story reached all over, up into Michigan,” Adams told the Post-Tribune on Friday.

In late January, Adams named four people whose bodies had been in the morgue for months.

Without someone to claim them, their bodies would be cremated with funds provided by the Lake County Auditor’s Office.

That did turn out to be the case for Steven Worland, 51, who died Sept. 17 at Miller Beach Terrace residential facility and Yanqiong Yao, 74, killed by a train in Hammond Oct. 26.

But Allan Tichansky and Baby Girl Thompson received personal funeral services, Adams said.

Tichansky, 63, found dead at his Miller home Oct. 7, was estranged for 20 years from his sister.

“She didn’t know he had died,” Adams said. When she learned of her brother’s fate, the woman made final arrangements for him, he added.

A foster mother who cares for handicapped children reached out to Adams to make arrangements for the stillborn baby who died Oct. 21.

With the help of Chapel Lawn Cemetery in Schererville and Kuiper Funeral home in Highland, the foster mother provided a private burial for the baby.

While most people think of angels with wings on their backs, Adams said it’s people with “wings on their hearts” who made an effort to provide a meaningful closure for the stillborn child.

Reach Lori Caldwell at 648-3258.