Daley Blames - Who Else? - The Media For Oprah-geddon
Chicago Gets Googled
Friday Flashback - Old School Oprah
Today's Transgender Day of Remembrance Honors the Dead
Review: Paramount Room
Shock and disgust remain two days after the horrific discovery at Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip that employees at the historic African-American cemetery had dug up several hundred bodies for the purposes of reselling the plots. The disinterred remains were then dumped in a field at the rear of the cemetery. According to the Sun-Times' Mary Mitchell, officials also discovered the casket of Emmett Till, whose murder became a rallying point of the Civil Rights movement, had been moved.
The casket was surrounded by garbage and discarded headstones strewn about like litter."When we opened it up trying to find what we have, a family of possums ran out," said Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart.
Cemetery workers had been cooperative and informed law enforcement officials that it was indeed Till's original casket.
"It sure looks like all of the photos I have ever seen," Dart said. "This is absolutely horrible."
Dart and other officials spent yesterday shuttling worried families around the grounds of the cemetery and taking reports from distraught families who suspected their relatives may have been one of the bodies disturbed.
Meanwhile, Dart announced that the four employees charged have been moved to a special section of Cook County Jail to prevent any incidents of harm by other inmates. Speaking to Greg Jarrett on WGN-720 AM this morning, Dart said, "These people need to be put in a special place because there is the strongest possibility of serious injury if that doesn't happen. We jumped on that right away." According to Chicago Breaking News:
Former cemetery manager Carolyn Towns, 49, foreman Keith Nicks, 45, and dump-truck operator Terrence Nicks, 39, all of Chicago, and back-hoe operator Maurice Dailey, 59, of Robbins, were each charged with dismembering a human body, a Class X felony. All face up to 30 years in prison.Towns' bail was set at $250,000, the others' at $200,000. Towns was placed in the psychiatric wing of Cermak Hospital. "We're concerned for her based on a psychiatric evaluation," said sheriff's office spokesman Steve Patterson.
Dart said this morning the defendants had made statements, but did not go into detail.
According to Dart, officials are still trying to figure out the extent of the financial scheme.
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
My understanding was that Till's body had not been moved. It is his original casket that has been rusting away like garbage, but Till's body remains undisturbed.
His body was exhumed a few years ago when authorities were re-investigating his murder. His original casket has a glass panel, so the atrocity of his murder could be seen by all. When he was reburied after the exhumation, he was buried in a new casket.
The original casket was supposed to be displayed in the museum in his honor, which is turning out to be a scam.
you're right. my mistake. corrected.
I understand that Till is an important icon, but I don't see why his old coffin is so important. He was placed into a new coffin after the 2005 exhumation. The person who was going to do the Till memorial was one of the grave ghouls, so the coffin was nver really going to end up in a museum. That would be pretty creepy, too.
I think what is upsetting is that this is another example of the utter disrespect and deception shown by the alleged perpetrators.
Some would argue that the original coffin itself has historical significance though. One of the reasons Emmett Till's murder helped sparked the civil rights movement was because of the open casket funeral. He was brutally beaten and shot. I think they gauged out his eye. His body was dumped into the water. When a body has that much physical damage, there is a closed coffin funeral. His mother demanded an open casket, so people could see just how brutal the murder was. The pictures of his body in the coffin were printed throughout the country.
I am not necessarily advocating for his coffin to be on view anywhere, but there are equally creepy relics in almost any museum and many European churches.
Oh, is Jesse Jackson there? Must have smelled the cameras.
A ghoul in a graveyard. Fitting really.
And apparently no one has a problem with 300 bodies being dug up and dumped in a pile so the plots (which were PAID FOR by the relative of the previous occupants) could be resold?