The cremated and unclaimed remains of thousands of people line the shelves of the crematory where Albert Gaskin, the cemetery caretaker, has the job of dealing with the remains. (Rick Loomis / LAT)
Chaplain Phil Manly drops flower petals over the grave that contains the cremated remains of 1687 unclaimed bodies who died in 2002. (Rick Loomis / LAT)
Lance Georgeson breaks down while saying a few words over his father’s grave while being consoled by Chaplain Phil Manly. Georgeson’s father was buried in a common grave with 1,048 other people who died unclaimed in Los Angeles county in 1978. (Rick Loomis / LAT)
A simple marker adjacent to Evergreen Cemetery in Boyle Heights marks the cremated remains of 1,687 people who died in Los Angeles County in 2002. (Rick Loomis / LAT)