GRAVEROBBERS ON THE LOOSE..

[britisha]

By Frank James

From Chicago's south suburb of Alsip comes the very disturbing story of as many as 300 graves being opened and the bodies inside dumped so that cemetery employees could resell the plots.

The level of depravity it would take to do this is stunning. But considering how some people treat the living, maybe we shouldn't be so shocked after all.

NPR's David Shaper had the following report on the network's newscast:

WHAT COULD POSSESS THESE ROBBERS?
FROM: HERESOH

[britisha]

Re: GRAVEROBBERS ON THE LOOSE..

They found a plastic bag in NJ with a 2 year old's body in it...apparently stolen from a graveyard/cemetery in Connecticut..

Mebbie they will need security at all these cemeteries 24/7.

[britisha]

Re: GRAVEROBBERS ON THE LOOSE..

More crazy peeps are out there than the medical community really want to admit.

To be so demented as to not only desecrate a grave, but to steal the remains, puts a new spin on the word "necrophilia."





Body of two-year-old girl is found in Passaic River
by The Associated Press
Monday July 06, 2009, 4:54 AM

CLIFTON -- The body of a girl believed to be about two years old found Sunday in the Passaic River in an industrial area.

Authorities said two men fishing in the river Sunday afternoon found a bag in the water at the shoreline and found the body inside the bag. Firefighters and a police detective searched by boat along the wooded shoreline for evidence. Investigators are trying to determine the girl's identity.

[britisha]

Re: GRAVEROBBERS ON THE LOOSE..

ve McNair • Afghanistan • Commentary • more topics »
Weather Forecast International Edition
The CNN Wire Latest updates on top stories
July 10th, 2009
Thousands wonder whether family member’s grave was moved
Posted: 02:03 AM ET

CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) — At least 30 graves were dug up and resold at a historic African-American cemetery near Chicago, in a scheme that has four cemetery employees facing felony charges, authorities said.

Detectives will further investigate Friday to see whether the scheme goes beyond the cemetery’s manager and the three gravediggers who have been charged, said Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart.

The sheriff’s office had assisted about 2,000 families worried about a family member’s grave. Authorities transported 350 families to the cemetery to check on burial plots.

A preliminary investigation revealed that at least 30 graves had been dug up, but up to 300 might have been disturbed, Dart said.

“This was not done in a very, very delicate way, folks,” he told reporters at a news conference Thursday.

“They would excavate a grave and would proceed to dump the remains wherever they found a place to do it in the back of the cemetery. This was not moving graves; this was not replacing graves. This was dumping of them.”

In some cases, remains were stacked on top of one another. They “literally pounded the other one down,” Dart said.

Authorities identified those charged as Carolyn Towns, an office manager for the cemetery, and gravediggers Keith Nicks, Terrance Nicks and Maurice Daley.

Each has been charged with dismembering a human body, a felony charge for which sentences range from six to 30 years, Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez said at the news conference.

Keith Nicks was being held in a medical unit because of a previous arm injury. Terrence Nicks and Daley were in jail. Towns had been taken to a hospital psychiatric ward, said a sheriff’s department spokesman.

Steven Watkins, an attorney for Towns, said his client is innocent.

“Somebody is apparently making false accusations against my client,” he said. “She’s maintaining her innocence.”

The Cook County state attorney’s office said the other three charged were being represented by the public defender’s office, and a message left at that office was not returned.

Authorities began investigating the cemetery — where, among others, lynching victim Emmett Till, blues legend Dinah Washington and some Negro League baseball players are buried — about six weeks ago, after receiving a call from its owners.

The owners had concerns about possible “financial irregularities” regarding the business, Dart told CNN.

Police went to the cemetery to investigate a financial crime and found much more, he said.

“This crime, it’s a whole new dimension,” Alvarez said. Authorities also suspect that Towns pretended to set up a memorial fund for Till and pocketed the money, Dart said.

He told CNN that groundskeepers, who have not been implicated in the scheme, have said that the grave of Till — whose 1955 lynching at age 14 helped spark the civil rights movement — has not been disturbed.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who was also at the news conference, noted the high-profile names of some of those buried in the cemetery, but said, “everybody here is special, and every family has special needs and special hurt, special grief.”

He added, “In my judgment, there should be no bail for them. There should be really a special place in hell for these graveyard thieves.”

Most of the excavations occurred in back lots, where the plots were older and not frequently visited, Dart said earlier this week. However, other plots may have been disturbed as well.

The cemetery’s owners — who could not be reached by CNN for comment — have operated it for more than five years but are not thought to be involved in the scam, Dart said.

He said the workers may have doctored records to cover their tracks, and noted that the cemetery holds all the records of who is buried and where.

“There’s virtually no regulations whatsoever” for cemeteries, Dart said. “Most all of the documents and everything are housed here.”

Investigators are trying to determine the scope of the scheme and plan to use thermal-imaging devices to determine whether other graves have been tampered with, Dart said.

The FBI, forensic scientists and area funeral directors have been called in to help in the investigation, he said.

“I don’t even know what to tell you about the heartbreaking stories that I’ve been hearing from people, crying hysterically that they’re going through the burial for the second time today,” he said.

“And they’re looking for answers and we’re sitting there telling them, ‘This is going to be very difficult. …’

“We’re trying to bring closure, but it’s going to take a long time to do that.”

– CNN’s Katherine Wojtecki and Taylor Gandossy contributed to this report.

[j-kid]

Ghoulis scheme to dig up graves in historic cemetery



Four nabbed in ghoulish scheme to dig up graves in historic Illinois cemetery
BY Bill Hutchinson
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Updated Thursday, July 9th 2009, 6:56 PM

The front entrance view of the Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Ill., after evidence that dozens of graves were dug up and bodies were dumped in a massive pile on the cemetery grounds.




A group of Illinois grave diggers were charged Thursday with running a morbid scam in which they exhumed corpses in a historic black cemetery to resell the empty plots, cops said.

Investigators suspect more than 300 bodies were dug up in the suburban Chicago graveyard and discarded in a pit so the ghouls could cash in.

"There should be a special place in hell" for the perpetrators, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said during a press conference at the desecrated grave yard.

The famed Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip is the final resting place of civil rights lynching victim Emmett Till and his mother, as well as jazz legend Dinah Washington, bluesman Willie Dixon and boxing champ Ezzard Charles.

While the graves of the notables were believed to be intact, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said that doesn't lessen the outrage.

"What we found was beyond startling and revolting," Dart said.

Arrested in the sinister scheme were the cemetery's manager Carolyn Towns, 49, and grave-diggers Keith Nicks, 45, and Terrence Nicks, 39, and Maurice Dailey, 61.

They were all charged with felony counts of dismembering a human body.

The scheme was literally uncovered six weeks ago by a cemetery worker who stumbled across the mass grave while practicing on a backhoe.

Dart said the schemers targeted older and unmarked graves, and kept track which ones hadn't been visited for a long time.

He said the bodies were reburied - caskets, concrete vaults and all - in a massive hole at the rear of the cemetery.

"There were plenty of concrete vaults that were shattered," Dart said. "More than we could count."

Among the distraught relatives who descended on the cemetery yesterday was Tiffany Robinson who feared her cousin's grave had vanished.

"He was a United States Marine," Robinson sobbed. "They said they didn't know where he was. How could you not know where someone is? We deserve the right to know what's going on here."

The cemetery's owner, Perpetua Inc. of Arizona, released a statement saying it was cooperating with the investigation.

"We will make every attempt to insure and maintain the dignity of those that have been entrusted to our care," company officials said.

[email protected]



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world...0KqwnByTB&C

[britisha]

Re: GRAVEROBBERS ON THE LOOSE..

Heard pan di news that Dinah Washington was buried at the cemetery and other big wigs..


Dem seh dem arrested the manger and 3 grave diggers. Wha dem was doing is tekking hout di bodies, den burying dem deeper and bury new corpse tap a dem..although it noh mek noh sense fi put di bodies somewhere else fi storage...acckshally dem seh they left them in the weeds.

[britisha]

Re: GRAVEROBBERS ON THE LOOSE..

[ILP]

Re: GRAVEROBBERS ON THE LOOSE..

mi juss really lissen dis on di news...

bwoy di 4 dem arrest in dis case....

dem need fi dead man

[Yvonne N.]

Re: GRAVEROBBERS ON THE LOOSE..

Heard that Mrs. Obama's dad was buried here also ...no aditional info yet.

[Gen]

Re: GRAVEROBBERS ON THE LOOSE..

so is Emmet Till

aye sah dem people yah eseeh

[Blackstar*]

Re: GRAVEROBBERS ON THE LOOSE..

Till's body had been exhumated for further investigation and re-buried in a new casket. The old casket was supposed to be presented in a memorial in his honor. Investigators found the old casket "dash weh" in a corner of the cemetery and a family of small rodents had made it into their home.

[britisha]

Re: GRAVEROBBERS ON THE LOOSE..

This is beyond awful; how low can some really go for money?

[Yvonne N.]

Re: GRAVEROBBERS ON THE LOOSE..

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Mrs_Ahmidis</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Heard that Mrs. Obama's dad was buried here also ...no additional info yet. </div></div>

Now they are saying that he's not there.

Why doant dem check dese sources more thoroughly before dem sey anyting?


RIP