For many, the mourning will begin anew

It is difficult to imagine an uglier story than the reports from Georgia about the crematory where hundreds of bodies have been discovered.

The tragedy of this story is the impact on the living. For most of those who died and were to be cremated at Tri-State Crematory, there are dozens of relatives and friends who have gone through a cycle of grieving. For most of them, that process concluded long ago. Now, with the sickening evidence being found by searchers, many of these relatives and friends will find themselves going through the mourning process again.

In Missouri, crematories must be licensed and are routinely inspected. It was no doubt a considerable relief for many in this area to learn that Southeast Missouri's only crematory, located in Jackson, received a surprise inspection this past week. No problems were discovered.

Surely officials in Georgia will be looking for new ways to prevent such a tragedy from ever happening again.