Bibb coroner has raised enough money for pauper's cremation

Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones, who in recent days had been raising money to pay for the cremation or burial of a man who had no surviving kin, said Saturday that he has raised enough funds.

Vernon Elrod died Jan. 14 in an Augusta hospital.

Jones had been seeking donations to cremate or bury Elrod, who most recently lived at Goodwill Nursing Home at 4373 Houston Ave. in Macon.

Jones said he needed $1,350 to cover the cost but that contributions poured in and he raised nearly $1,950.

"I got so many donations," the coroner said, "I'm sending $600 back."

Elrod, who was born in 1941, did not receive pauper's burial funds from the Georgia Department of Family and Children Services, so taxpayers were paying $100 each day his body is in a local morgue.

This story was originally published February 6, 2016 at 7:53 PM with the headline "Bibb coroner has raised enough money for pauper's cremation ."