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More bones found; Ill. cemetery closed to public

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-07-11 21:42

One of Till's cousin's said she was appalled the casket was found in such poor condition.

"It's part of history, it's part of our trying to put a family to rest," Ollie Gordon said Friday during a visit to the cemetery.

Authorities said three former gravediggers and a former cemetery manager made about $300,000 in the scheme that stretched back at least four years. The four sold existing deeds and plots to unsuspecting customers, authorities said. They then allegedly dug up hundreds of corpses and either dumped them in a weeded, vacant area of the cemetery - which authorities labeled the original crime scene - or double-stacked them in graves.

Dart said long before the most recent scandal, one grieving relative launched a one-man crusade against Burr Oak conditions, claiming one of his parents' coffins was too close to the surface. Alsip officials investigated, agreed, and are allowing the man to remove his loved one's remains Saturday.

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While the exhumation is not connected to this week's charges, Dart noted the coffin's proximity to the surface raises the possibility the remains were stacked.

Hundreds of relatives, some clutching maps of the 150-acre site, walked through rows of graves on Friday. Dart said closing the cemetery was necessary because it would be irresponsible to continue letting families wander around "to find nothing more than tears."

The sheriff said one family sought 10 grave sites and found none. And although Burr Oak plans indicate a designated area for infants called "Baby Land," none of those grave sites could be found, Dart said.

"More people have not found relatives than have found them," he said.

The suspects, who were being held on bond, were former cemetery manager Carolyn Towns, 49; Keith Nicks, 45; Terrence Nicks, 39; and Maurice Dailey, 61.

A spokeswoman for the Cook County state's attorney's office said Towns is being represented by a private attorney, but she didn't know the name. The Cook County public defender's office said it was representing the three other defendants but did not have attorneys' names. Attempts to reach family members were unsuccessful.

The cemetery's Arizona-based owner, Perpetua Inc., is cooperating with authorities.

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