(WGN-AM)-An attorney for the owners of Burr Oak Cemetery told investigators this morning that a grave about to be exhumed contained two bodies, raising suspicions about how much the company knew about what was happening at the defiled cemetery, a spokeswoman for the Cook County sheriff said today.
Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Brittney Blair said that before investigators and family members went to the grave, an attorney for Perpetua Holdings of Illinois Inc. said, "Yeah, when you guys go back there you're going to find two bodies."
"It's safe to say we are going to look far more closely now at what Perpetua knew," Blair said.
The grave was being exhumed under a court order after a relative of the person buried there became suspicious.
Blair said the relative, before news of the cemetery scandal broke, had taken a metal rod and thrust it into the ground -- it only went down about 18 inches, indicating an unusually shallow grave.
Blair also said investigators haven't been able to determine yet if there are bodies buried in a portion of the cemetery she said was "coldly known as 'Babyland.' "
The strip has no headstones, she said, and "Every family that came out to look for an infant in Babyland was unable to find a headstone."
Carolyn Towns, 49, the former manager at the cemetery, is accused of masterminding the excavation of 200 to 300 bodies that were tossed in a "dump area" of the cemetery so their plots could be resold for cash. Towns and groundskeepers Keith Nicks, 45, Terrence Nicks, 39, all of Chicago, and Maurice Dailey, 59, of Robbins, each face a felony charge of dismembering a human body, and could get 30 years in prison.
Sheriff's officials were expected to hold a news conference before noon.
Meanwhile this morning, a line of hundreds stretched out the cemetery's main gate at 127th Street and Kostner Avenue in Alsip by about 10:30 a.m. The line led to a row of white tents on the property where family members could submit details about those buried on the site.
People waited with heads bowed, some grasping their chests and others praying, hoping those they'd laid to rest hadn't been disturbed.
"One of my fears is that I may never have closure, or peace to know where my family's bodies are," said Jennifer Gyimah, who has about 40 relatives buried at Burr Oak. "You think they're at rest. As a living human being, you feel you at least can give your relatives dignity in death. And now I feel that dignity has been shattered."
Like many in line, Gyimah clutched old black and white photos of her family members. She said her forebears were sharecroppers in Paris, Texas, who moved to Chicago in 1921.
"Since then we prospered as a family," she said. "That was their hope."
Crews were out today erecting privacy fences along the cemetery's existing fence, to discourage any gawkers who might approach during the investigation.
(The Chicago Tribune contributed to this story)
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Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Brittney Blair said that before investigators and family members went to the grave, an attorney for Perpetua Holdings of Illinois Inc. said, "Yeah, when you guys go back there you're going to find two bodies."
"It's safe to say we are going to look far more closely now at what Perpetua knew," Blair said.
The grave was being exhumed under a court order after a relative of the person buried there became suspicious.
Blair said the relative, before news of the cemetery scandal broke, had taken a metal rod and thrust it into the ground -- it only went down about 18 inches, indicating an unusually shallow grave.
Blair also said investigators haven't been able to determine yet if there are bodies buried in a portion of the cemetery she said was "coldly known as 'Babyland.' "
The strip has no headstones, she said, and "Every family that came out to look for an infant in Babyland was unable to find a headstone."
Carolyn Towns, 49, the former manager at the cemetery, is accused of masterminding the excavation of 200 to 300 bodies that were tossed in a "dump area" of the cemetery so their plots could be resold for cash. Towns and groundskeepers Keith Nicks, 45, Terrence Nicks, 39, all of Chicago, and Maurice Dailey, 59, of Robbins, each face a felony charge of dismembering a human body, and could get 30 years in prison.
Sheriff's officials were expected to hold a news conference before noon.
Meanwhile this morning, a line of hundreds stretched out the cemetery's main gate at 127th Street and Kostner Avenue in Alsip by about 10:30 a.m. The line led to a row of white tents on the property where family members could submit details about those buried on the site.
People waited with heads bowed, some grasping their chests and others praying, hoping those they'd laid to rest hadn't been disturbed.
"One of my fears is that I may never have closure, or peace to know where my family's bodies are," said Jennifer Gyimah, who has about 40 relatives buried at Burr Oak. "You think they're at rest. As a living human being, you feel you at least can give your relatives dignity in death. And now I feel that dignity has been shattered."
Like many in line, Gyimah clutched old black and white photos of her family members. She said her forebears were sharecroppers in Paris, Texas, who moved to Chicago in 1921.
"Since then we prospered as a family," she said. "That was their hope."
Crews were out today erecting privacy fences along the cemetery's existing fence, to discourage any gawkers who might approach during the investigation.
(The Chicago Tribune contributed to this story)
Get the latest news at the top and bottom of every hour on Chicago's WGN Radio 720
