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Sheriff: Bodies Dug Up At Historic Cemetery
Workers at an historic cemetery that’s the final resting place to such famous African Americans as blues singer Willie Dixon and lynching victim Emmett Till dug up nearly 100 graves, removed the bodies and resold the burial plots, authorities say.
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ALSIP, Ill. (July 9, 2009)--Cook County, Ill. Sheriff Tom Dart says workers at historic Burr Oak Cemetery in the Chicago suburb of Alsip appear to have dug up more than 100 graves, dumped the bodies into unmarked mass graves and resold the plots to unsuspecting members of the public
Dart said at a news conference that his office was questioning five cemetery employees who were allegedly involved in the grave selling scheme.
Dart said his office has been investigating the employees for about six weeks and learned of the scheme from Perpetua Holdings of Illinois, Inc., which has owned the cemetery since 2001.
Burr Oak is the final resting place of many famous African-Americans, including lynching victim Emmett Till, blues singers Willie Dixon, Dinah Washington and Otis Spann, as well as Harlem Globetrotter Inman Jackson.
