Birmingham, Ala. (WIAT)-- The Jefferson County Coroner's Office has a database filled with names of people who died and were buried without the Coroner's Office being able to reach their next of kin.
202 people fall into that category. Their names are part of an online searchable database the Jefferson County Coroner's Office created in 2011.
According to Jefferson County Chief Deputy Coroner Bill Yates, there is a growing concern about people dying in isolation with no one coming forward for final disposition across the country. This has become more common in larger areas in recent years.
As for how their industry and agencies handle are addressing it, Yates said, "You're starting to see them put out podcasts, lectures that have to do with locating families talking about how you manage the unclaimed."
Last year the U.S. Surgeon General issued an advisory which called Loneliness and Isolation an epidemic.
Yates said sometimes, when descendants go unclaimed, "it's usually because they are estranged, it could be drugs or mental illness, sometimes it's just aging out. A lot of our people who are unclaimed are in their 70s and 80s."
The Jefferson County Coroner's Office will send out public notifications to get the community to help them when they are unsuccessful in reaching next of kin. Sometimes the email will contain one name and a picture, but sometimes there are multiple individuals listed in the emails.
"Usually when we put an article out trying to find family, probably about 70 to 80 percent of the time we're successful," Yates said.
When they are unable to reach next of kin, the final disposition will rest with the Jefferson County Coroner's Office which buries those unclaimed persons in the Jefferson County Cemetery in Morris. According to Yates, in 2023, 56 people were buried as unclaimed persons. The number is far less this year.