The Benton County coroner says there's been an increase in the number of people who die and whose bodies are never claimed by families, even when families live nearby.

Coroner John Hansens told KEPR ( http://is.gd/l1VwKt) families who refuse to pay stick the county with a $500 bill for cremation.

Hansens says he has sympathy for indigent families in hard times, but to protect taxpayers he'll have to start taking the families to small claims court.

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Information from: KEPR-TV, http://www.keprtv.com/