4 Charged With Digging Up Over 300 Bodies

[Athena2]

Wow -- this is exactly why they should not release the burial location of Michael Jackson. :ohmy:

CHICAGO (CBS) ―

Four people have been charged after up to 300 bodies were removed from their graves and the plots were resold at the historic Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip.

http://cbs4denver.com/national/bodies.exhumed.dumped.2.1078689.html

[SKARDYKAT]

This grizzly episode just made me sick. Just watching some of those poor people who did not know where their loved ones were. Those four men are going to pay - there won't be any sympathy in the jury or the prosecution.

[Adalena935]

I don't know how they thought they could get away with this. At some point, people are going to visit the graves, and realize what has happened - and it would be very clear who had done it - the people who resold the plots.

That's what I was thinking. I saw this story reported on tv news. They'd have to change out the headstones and if the family of the former people burried there saw someone else's headstone where their family member or friend used to be they'd know. Greed knows no bounds it seems. Horrible.

[R~O~S]

Are you basing the 4 year time frame on the fact that Tills was exhumed in 2005?

I didn't see that time frame listed in the article, so I'm confused as to where you saw it. Maybe I missed it?

I'm as confused as you are. Cemeteries in my area are sold/occupied by areas, that is one section was active in the 1800's the next would be 1850 forward, another 1900, another 1950 and on. With the exception of family plots that can be very large and active over several generations. The "babyland" section would be the same, oldest graves to the back, newest to the front.

I kinda assumed all cemeteries were run the same way, and if someone was going to do this they'd only have the chutzpa to resell the oldest sections, unlikely to have any living relatives visiting.

Based on the family trying to locate 10 loved ones, and finding none of them, this has got to be more recent graves disturbed.

Hopefully the groundskeepers, if they've been with the cemetery for any length of time will be able to give them a lot of help with the investigation.

[Adalena935]

Cemeteries I know of plots can be purchased wherever available. I've never heard of them being in a preordained semetery. Sections are where the cemetery decides, but not individual plots. Friends on cemetery boards say the blocks around the edges by roadways inside the cemetery sell first, before the center blocks are purchased.

There have been similar cases in the past. What a huge undertaking to identify all these long dead people. My grandmother told me about cases like this back in the 1800's happening. It's not a new phenomena but always horrible and always greed driven that I've known or heard of. ETA: It's not uncommon for families to buy so-called extra plots when one family member dies due to the frequent price increases they're trying to stave off in case they need one later on. Let's face it folks, we're all going to die eventually.

[Adalena935]

What gets me is them not publishing the names of these horrid people who had the records stashed at their homes and who are suspects. What, afraid they might offend them? WTH?

Put out the names of these low-life's who have no regard for the deceased or their families. If a deceased person has no family they don't deserve this sacraligious treatment at the hands of the greedy.

[R~O~S]

TY Rachel!! I didn't listen to the videos, I only read the article. No wonder I missed it.

[Adalena935]

This grizzly episode just made me sick. Just watching some of those poor people who did not know where their loved ones were. Those four men are going to pay - there won't be any sympathy in the jury or the prosecution.

1 is a woman, the other 3 men.

[Adalena935]

Carolyn Towns pocketed money for a bogus memorial fund for Emmett Till. Also under arrest besides Towns is Keith Nicks age 45. Terrence Nicks age 39. Maurice Dailey age 61. All cemetery employees.

It's believed their ill-gotten gains amounted to around $300,000.00 in the diabolical scheme. One of Till's relatives spoke with Towns on the phone often and was lied to about the memorial fund that never existed. They apparently never reburied Till. Heartbreaking. These are sick sick people. Held in protective custody in Cook County jail. I hope they mete out the harshest penalties possible to them.

The cemetery is owned by an Arizona based company by the name of Perpetua, Inc.

1/4 million dollar bond on Towns, the cemetery's manager. The other 3 bond of $200,000.00 each. ETA: each could face up to 30 yrs in prison for dismembering a body.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=8053530&page=1

[Adalena935]

This is horriffic. Carolyn Towns (manager) was the ringleader in the diabolically orchestrated scheme. She'd take the money in the front office for payment for plots. then the other cemetery workers would disenter remains and dump the bodies in whatever weed riddled fields were handily available. They have apparently found bones. Good heavens.

I can't imagine the grief. Bad enough for those disintered, but also for the unsuspecting people being sold and made to use the used graves unawares. These people have no heart. This is one of the most comprehensive news stories I've found.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/Story?id=8053530&page=2

[Adalena935]

The great blues singer Dinah Washington is buried in this cemetery. When they played her songs on the radio my sister used to make us stop whaever we were doing, sit on the sofa and listen. It was like a religious experience. She sang with Lionel Hampton's band. Brings tears to my eyes. We all loved her voice so much and bought many of her recordings when vinyl was in vogue. Her voice is timeless.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgGfvkaoGpc&feature=related

Dinah Washington - Levi's commercial (summer of 1992)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ly6H3iJ7nGs&feature=related
Cry Me A River - Dinah Washington

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvRiiKOEAlw
All of Me

She also sang "Stormy Weather", "What a Difference a Day Makes"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSVHs1YwwME&feature=related

You've Got What It Takes

awesome!

[withay]

Carolyn Towns pocketed money for a bogus memorial fund for Emmett Till. Also under arrest besides Towns is Keith Nicks age 45. Terrence Nicks age 39. Maurice Dailey age 61. All cemetery employees.

It's believed their ill-gotten gains amounted to around $300,000.00 in the diabolical scheme. One of Till's relatives spoke with Towns on the phone often and was lied to about the memorial fund that never existed. They apparently never reburied Till. Heartbreaking. These are sick sick people. Held in protective custody in Cook County jail. I hope they mete out the harshest penalties possible to them.

The cemetery is owned by an Arizona based company by the name of Perpetua, Inc.

1/4 million dollar bond on Towns, the cemetery's manager. The other 3 bond of $200,000.00 each. ETA: each could face up to 30 yrs in prison for dismembering a body.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=8053530&page=1


That would be 30 years for each body! Hopefully, they will each be looking at lifetime sentences. I don't think they deserve any less.
About 10 years ago there was a case in Georgia where bodies that were supposed to have been cremeted were just "stored". I had a great uncle that I had to track down and make sure he had not sent to that crematorium. He was not, thankfully. But it is impossible to explain what goes through your head when you think it might be "one of yours".