The body of notorious cult leader Charles Manson, who died earlier this week at age 83, is currently languishing at the Kern County Coroner’s office in California, and if his next-of-kin doesn’t show up to claim it in the next week, its fate is up to prison officials. His grandson says he doesn’t have the cash to come get the body, though, so his friend set up a GoFundMe for him. Unfortunately, it looks like GoFundMe’s pulled the campaign, and Manson’s body is still, probably, in a freezer.
TMZ first spotted the GoFundMe campaign this morning, noting it had already racked up $949 to help pay for Manson’s funeral expenses. But by the afternoon, the campaign had disappeared. Manson grandson Jason Freeman, 41, told the NY Daily News he’s not sure why the campaign was pulled, or how he’ll get to California to claim Manson’s body. “This is a circus. I’m letting a couple of my friends assist and help out,” he said, adding, “I’m trying to stay out of it.”
Freeman said he started speaking with Manson, who infamously led his cult members to murder pregnant actress Sharon Tate and six others in the summer of 1969, about eight years ago. The two never met in person, Freeman said, but he did reach a place of “forgiveness” with his grandfather. “Most people in the world wouldn’t understand. They wouldn’t get what I’m saying. We all look at anybody and everybody who kills as a killer. But all I have is my love,” he said.
The Los Angeles Times reported this week that Freeman has until November 29 to claim Manson’s body. If he fails to do so, prison officials will decide whether to cremate or bury Manson, and after a year they can auction off his belongings. Per the NY Daily News, the Kern County Coroner’s office usually deposits unclaimed remains at Union Cemetery, where they are cremated and interred in a group vault.
The now-shuttered GoFundMe campaign sought to prevent that. “We will not sit back & let them throw Mr. Manson away like trash,” the campaign’s site read, per Vibe. “His whole life he lived with the pain of feeling unclaimed. We must not let this happen in death. Together we can help Jason bring his grandfather home & prove to the world Charles WAS LOVED & WILL BE CLAIMED!”
