ASHES OF THE UNKNOWN TO BE BURIED TODAY CEREMONY MARKS GRIM ANNUAL TRADITION.

Byline: Susan Abram Staff Writer

In a downtown cemetery where bronze grave markers are etched with numbers instead of names, the ashes of more than 1,600 of Los Angeles county's unknown and unclaimed will be buried together today at a traditional service held annually since 1925.

The brief ceremony includes the reading of a few prayers before the ashes are mixed and placed in a communal grave. A simple bronze marker containing only the year they died, in this case 2002, is then placed on top to mark the site.

For the last 80 years, the county's Department of Health Services has taken on the duty of burying some 300,000 people who could not be identified or claimed and in some cases, whose families cannot afford to bury them.

``Lord, we ask you to welcome home with open arms (these) 1,619 souls, many of whom their identities are known only to you,'' Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe said Tuesday during a regular board meeting.

It was the first time the Board of Supervisors had recognized the county's unknown and unclaimed, officials said.

This morning's interment includes the ``cremains'' of those from 2002. The Los Angeles County morgue holds the ashes in small boxes on shelves for three years. Each year in December, the ashes that reach the three year mark are collected and interred together.

Some of the bodies come from the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office. Most are from the Los Angeles County morgue.

``There used to be more than 1,600,'' cremains in a year, said Craig Harvey, spokesman for the Department of Coroners. ``In some years, we've had more than 2,000.''

The burial will be held at 10 a.m. today at the Los Angeles County Crematory Grounds, 3301 E. 1st Street, Los Angeles. Access to the grounds is through Evergreen Cemetery and Crematory at 204 N. Evergreen Avenue, Los Angeles.

Susan Abram, [phone]

susan.abram(at)dailynews.com