Results tagged “burroakcemetery”

Burr Oak Cemetery is set to reopen to the public four months after the Cook County Sheriff closed it down. The cemetery came into the spotlight in July when hundreds of families were left in shock when it was discovered four employees allegedly dug up over 300 graves, dumped the bones in a large pile, and resold the grave plots. The county is still scrambling to account for thousands of dead, and even set up a website to aid in the effort.

The four former Burr Oak Cemetery workers accused in the atrocious grave-digging scheme - Carlyn Towers, Keith Nicks, Terrence Nicks, and Maurice Dailey - were formally indicted on four additional charges today. According to Chicago Breaking News:

In the wake of the Burr Oak Cemetery discovery, the Cook County Sheriff's office took to documenting all the graves with headstones to aid families searching for the resting place of their loved ones. So far 9,500 of the headstones have been documented and now the Trib is joining in, using the data to create a database with a few more user-friendly search options, including breaking the headstones down by decade. It's definitely worth a look. And in other Burr Oak news today, the Trib uncovered a 2005 police report that shows police saw human bones in plain sight at the cemetery but didn't explore the incident any further.

The state was warned in 2001 of “irregularities in the cemetery maintenance trust fund” of a Calumet Park cemetery owned by the same firm that owns Burr Oak, according to a former employee.

• Two Chicago Police officers were shot today while trying to execute a warrant on the Southeast Side. Each officer was shot in a leg and both were reported in good condition.
• The police shooting followed last night's violent six hour window which saw four killed and eight wounded in shootings.
• Gov. Quinn has joined the fray over Burr Oak Cemetery, appointing a task force to look at cemetery operations state-wide.

• The Tribune reports Roman Szabelski, executive director of Catholic Cemeteries of the Archdiocese of Chicago, has been appointed to take over day-to-day operations of Burr Oak Cemetery in the wake of the horrific discoveries of the past week.
• The Reader's Ben Joravsky checked out the Chicago 2016 neighborhood meeting last night. What did he think? In his words: "I Tried."
• A man from Lombard was sentenced to 18 months in prison for trying to set up a dog fight for his pit bull. The Chicagoist Intern does not approve.

As if the Burr Oak Cemetery case wasn't under enough scrutiny, the heat on the investigation is sure to amp up with the revelation that Fraser Robinson III, the father of First Lady Michelle Obama, is buried at the historic African-American cemetery. Michelle's spokeswoman, Camille Johnston, confirmed that Robinson was buried at the Alsip cemetery but refused to comment any further on the matter and there's no word if his grave or headstone was among the hundreds of burial sites that had been disturbed. [Chicago Breaking News]

With the crime scene expanding and new horrific discoveries almost every day in the Burr Oak Cemetery case, the FBI has joined the investigation. Chicago Breaking News reports that an FBI forensics team is now on the scene, helping to map the cemetery grounds and determine what the scope of the actual crime scene is.

Authorities have closed Burr Oak Cemetery in suburban Alsip, even to those seeking information as to the condition of their loved ones' graves, as their investigation into a scheme that involved over 300 bodies being disinterred continues. Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart advised concerned family members to head to the front gates of the cemetery where they could pass information along to sheriff's officials. Dart made the decision after second site of remains and disturbed graves was made on the grounds yesterday. Dart said, “It has become abundantly clear to us that this crime scene is going to continue to grow. We do not have an end in sight.” A temporary restraining order by the sheriff's office to put a moratorium on burials at Burr Oak was dropped. Said Sally Daly, spokeswoman for the Cook County States Attorney's office, "Initially there was discussion of obtaining a temporary restraining order to make sure no more digging, no more funerals, so as to preserve the scene. At this point the lawyers for the cemetery have agreed to discontinue any funeral or any kind of excavating at the cemetery." The cemetery could be closed for up to a week as the investigation continues. [Tribune, Sun-Times]

       

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.

A strange, horrible story from Alsip regarding the historic African-American Burr Oak Cemetery. It seems the manager and several grave-diggers dug up over 100 almost 300 bodies for the purposes of re-selling the graves. Authorities found piles of bones where the bodies had been dumped after being dug up. Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said, "What we found was beyond startling and revolting...All of us who were working on this for the last week were pretty distraught. You start with the premise of your own loved ones and how they are cared for after they are buried, but there is also a true significance to this particular cemetery." Among the historic figures buried at the cemetery are Emmett Till, jazz/blues legend Dinah Washington and heavyweight boxing champion Ezzard Charles. Dart said authorities are working to identify the remains that were removed, but said, "We cannot give people definitive answers at this point." [Tribune, Sun-Times]