300 Graves in Historic Cemetery Dug Up and Resold

Bodies said to be dumped into mass grave.

The Associated Press
WFLS News

Date published: 7/9/2009

ALSIP, Ill. (AP) - Authorities say about 300 graves at a historic black cemetery near Chicago may have been tampered with as part of a scheme in which grave sites could be resold.

Four workers at the Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip were charged Thursday with one count each of dismembering a human body, a felony.

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart says some of the graves were dug up and remains dumped elsewhere. He says in other cases the graves were "pounded down" and another person was buried on top.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson said at a news conference Thursday that he's been besieged by phone calls from worried relatives of those buried at the cemetery.

Burr Oak is the final resting place of lynching victim Emmett Till and several other notable black Americans.

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(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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Date published: 7/9/2009