Every family's nightmare: Burr Oak Cemetery graves allegedly stripped for profit

[meegbear]

Source: Chicago Sun-Times

At one time, Burr Oak Cemetery was the only place black Chicagoans were sure they could bury their dead. But on Wednesday, the historic African-American cemetery became the site of a horror story.

As many as 100 human bodies — someone’s grandfather, grandmother, father, son, daughter, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew cousin or friend — were removed from their graves and the plots resold.

The manager of Burr Oak Cemetery and three gravediggers were charged this morning, accused of scheming to dig up gravesites and resell them.

The four were expected to be in court this morning. The sheriff's office says caskets and remains were removed more than 100 graves and piled up in an unused area of the graveyard over several years.

Read more: http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/1657907,burr-oaks-cemetary-mitchell-070909.article

[Lifelong Protester]

1. Geez, I just read the article you linked to,

and what a horror! Grotesque is the only word. I know times are tough, but desecrating the graves of the dead will bring you some serious bad-ass karma, IMHO.

[Birdiesmom]

2. How can this happen in the 21st century? In the United States?

:cry:

[sledgehammer]

3. Because sick humans will exist in every generation, anywhere in the world n/t

[Birdiesmom]

8. I know -- I'm just a part of the "Star Trek" generation...

...and grew up thinking we would "grow" out of this sort of thing.

:hippie: :banghead:

[Tsar_Bomba]

5. becuase

$$$$ is our god

[meegbear]

10. Tsar_Bomba?

[northzax]

20. because there is a finite amount of space to bury people

and therefore that space gets more and more valuable over time? while I don't condone this behavior in any way shape or form, it's hardly new. the fact is, 100,000 people die every year in the Chicago area, that's a lot of bodies that need to go somewhere. recycling of grave sites is a fairly common practice the world round. only the very wealthy or famous were assured of final resting places with markers and the like.

[pattmarty]

4. This is the era of GREED. Some people for the "right" price will do anything.

[cosmicone]

6. Another plus for cremation ...... n/t

[Tsar_Bomba]

7. I agree

[Vidar]

9. America: "Land of the dollar bill"

[Caoimhe]

11. How awful

these people who did this should be confronted by the family members, ALL of them, and forced to listen to their grief and outrage. SMH

[asksam]

12. I don't know why everyone's surprised at this...

... we all know that Rethugs are ghouls anyway.

[dysfunctional press]

13. it's not our family's nightmare.

we see cemeteries as a silly waste of space.

[Ms. Toad]

16. Ditto. My grandparents remains

(less than a shoebox, combined) are sprinkled beneath a tree in the front yard of the home I grew up in.

Mine will go someplace similar.

[dysfunctional press]

18. i want to have mine go to these guys-

http://www.bodyworlds.com/en.html

i have a condition called ankylosing spondylitis that causes the spine to fuse- it's sometimes called 'bamboo spine', so it could possibly be an interesting display for them.

if they aren't interested, my second choice would be for my body to go to a group of necrophiliac satanists- and when they're done- to cremate what's left and sprinkle it somewhere tropical.

[Ms. Toad]

19. Have you seen bodyworlds? It's really amazing.

I've had a muscle spasm for years, and I could see exactly which muscle is spasming in a way that none of the pictures I've seen had shown me.

If they won't take it, I'd encourage you to donate organs for transplant (my daughter has a liver disorder related to her IBD, which is incidentally related to ankylosing spondylitis. She'll need a liver transplant in a decade or two, so I'm beating the drum for organ donation). Who knows - may be those necrophilia satanists would also get a kick out of a body that is missing a few organs...

[boppers]

22. Ooh, the bodyworlds folks? *and* ankylosing spondylitis?

That's hundreds of years of medical information, potentially presented in real life, real size, form.

I applaud you.

Oh, and how's the back? That shit totally sucks, from what I hear.

[dysfunctional press]

25. the back is fried, but thanks for asking...

yes, it does suck exponentially, especially when it goes un/mis-diagnosed for some 20 years, and your only meds are ibuprofen, pot, & alcohol, AND you make major life decisions based in large part on those mis-diagnosis...and then there's the part about how once i was on disability i found out that one of my earlier and by then long bankrupt employers had never paid into the 'system' the fica money that they had dutifully removed from my checks for the over two years i had worked for them- which meant/means that my monthly checks are 12% less than they should be. (it's all a looong story- suffice it to say the entire ankylosing spondylitis lifetime ordeal left me a broken and bitter person.)
HOWEVER- in becoming 'officially' disabled, i was able to accomplish my main goal in life a decade ago, at the tender age of 38- i always wanted to get to a place in life where i didn't have to HAVE a boss or BE a boss(my shitbag of a father scarred me deeply for life, re: authority figures).

spinewise- my lumbar and cervical sections are entirely fused, and my thoracic is so-so. i haven't had any major a.s. flare-ups in awhile, but i continue to have trouble with associated conditions and irreversible mechanical damage- i had a bout of iritis earlier this year(preceded by a vitreous collapse of the same eye two months prior), and continue to have periodic massive migraines, and incessant insomnia. physically, i'm a wreck- but at least i don't have any problem getting prescription narcotics...except when it comes to paying for them; especially since the good people(well, person) at the SS misinformed as to when my sign-up period was for part d this past year. and i've also since found out that nobody will sell me a medicare supplement policy until i turn 65, due to the whole disability thing(which is the whole reason that i'm ON medicare to start with...:crazy:).

round and round it goes...and plenty more interesting times are ahead. if i'm lucky. otherwise- hopefully look for me in a bodyworks exhibit coming to a museum near you!

weeeeeeeee!!

[Critters2]

24. Having just had a bone graft using cadaver bone tissue, I am grateful

to those who donate their bodies to medical usage...and intend to do the same myself. No need to take up good space when there are others who can benefit from my demise.

[Ms. Toad]

26. You make a good point that many don't know

Even if you are a recipient of an organ or tissue, you can still donate other organs or tissue.

My daughter, who barring a miracle cure, will be a liver recipient also carries the organ donor bug on her driver's license. No one would want her liver. But her heart, corneas, kidneys, skin, lungs, etc. could save or improve the quality of someone else's life should she no longer need them while there is still some useful life left in them.

[opihimoimoi]

14. Bring back SKY BURIALS

[MadMaddie]

15. WTF?

Special place in hell for grave (I mean it literally) robbers!!

[MikeNearMcChord]

17. This isn't new, if you died in the 1800's and happen to live near

a medical school, chances are, you might have your remains taken for dissection. There was a big scandal in Ohio , when it was discovered the son of William Henry Harrison, was found on a slab at a medical school.

[BreweryYardRat]

21. Yup, the old Resurrection trade.

Allow me to quote from Ambrose Bierce's "The Devil's Dictionary:"

GRAVE, n.
A place in which the dead are laid to await the coming of the medical student.

HYENA, n.
A beast held in reverence by some oriental nations from its habit of frequenting at night the burial-places of the dead. But the medical student does that.

BODY-SNATCHER, n.
A robber of grave-worms. One who supplies the young physicians with that with which the old physicians have supplied the undertaker. The hyena.

"One night," a doctor said, "last fall,
I and my comrades, four in all,
When visiting a graveyard stood
Within the shadow of a wall.

"While waiting for the moon to sink
We saw a wild hyena slink
About a new-made grave, and then
Begin to excavate its brink!

"Shocked by the horrid act, we made
A sally from our ambuscade,
And, falling on the unholy beast,
Dispatched him with a pick and spade."
Bettel K. Jhones

[truthisfreedom]

23. It's a nightmare to superstitious people.

Once I'm dead, my body is of no use to anyone but medical science.