Western Illinois coroner will hold your family's ashes hostage for $1,000, won't produce a death certificate without payment

Adams County Coroner James Keller is western Illinois has a great way to self-fund his department: if a poor person dies and their family can't afford the $1,000 for cremation, Keller just dumps the ashes in an unmarked mass grave; and then if the family needs a death certificate to access their dead loved one's estate, Keller makes them sign over the first $1,000 out of the estate to his office before he'll hand over the paperwork. (more")