LOS ANGELES - The Office of Decedent Affairs of Los Angeles County Department of Health Services has announced that its annual “Ceremony of the Unclaimed Dead” will be held on Thursday, December 11, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. at the Los Angeles County Crematory & Cemetery in Boyle Heights.
By Allan R. Ellenberger for The Hollywoodland Revue
Open to the public and streamed online, the inter-faith, non-denominational event will honour more than 1,800 individuals whose remains went unclaimed after the standard three-year custodial period.
As in past years, ceremony participants—faith leaders, community members, and county officials—will deliver prayers, tributes and white roses at the communal grave site, marking a ritual that dates back to 1896.
In explaining the significance, Supervisor Janice Hahn noted: “Many of those we honour died homeless, alone or far from family. This ceremony reminds us that every person deserves dignity—even when no one else remained to claim them.”
Registration for attendance opened online on December 2; limited seating is available given the solemn nature of the burial space. Parking is offered at adjacent Evergreen Cemetery beginning at 9:00 a.m., with an entrance via Evergreen Avenue and exit onto First Street.
The process begins each year when the Office of Decedent Affairs places cremated remains into a single communal grave labeled with the year of interment. Families retain the right to claim the remains up until burial; after three years without a claimant, the county proceeds with the ceremony.
As the 2025 ceremony approaches, the county invites faith-based organizations, volunteers and the public to attend or livestream the service—a collective gesture of remembrance for those whose names seldom appear in obituaries but whose stories remain part of Los Angeles’ shared history.