Human Bone Discovered At Another Suburban Cemetery
House subcommittee looking into cemetery oversight
Tuesday, Jul 28, 2009 | Updated 9:02 PM CST
A human bone has been discovered at a second south suburban cemetery, according to the Cook County Sheriff's police.
Another suburban Chicago cemetery has become the center of investigation after a human bone was found by a worker from an outside company -- and on Monday, a U.S. House subcommittee will begin looking into oversight of all cemeteries.
The discovery came just days after a lawsuit was filed claiming a grave reselling scheme was going on at Mount Glenwood Memory Gardens South Cemetery, similar to the sceme at Burr Oak Cemetery.
A worker from an outside company was dropping off vaults Friday at Mount Glenwood Memory Gardens when he noticed a bone laying near the ground, according to Cook County Sheriff's police spokesman Steve Patterson. The worker contacted sheriff's police who took the bone to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.
A Saturday autopsy determined the bone was human remains, the medical examiner's office said.
"Based on that information, the sheriff's police will now start an investigation, which will include interviewing those working at the cemetery, among others," Patterson said in a statement. "I have no idea how long the investigation will take. The Burr Oak investigation lasted six weeks before charges were filed and the cemetery was ultimately closed. We have no reason to close the cemetery at this point."
The House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection will convene Monday morning at the Dirksen federal courthouse to look into cemetery oversight.
The hearing is entitled "Oversight of Cemeteries and Other Funeral Services: Who's in Charge?". The meeting will examine
consumer protections that relate to funerals and cemeteries.
Meanwhile, Sheriff's police continue to investigate at Burr Oak Cemetery, where 200 to 300 graves are believed to have been destroyed for profit.
On July 20, three people sued Mount Glenwood Memory Gardens South, accusing the cemetery of the same reselling scheme that's under investigation at Burr Oak.
The families say their relatives were double buried in plots at the cemetery.
The lawsuit was filed a week after former gravedigger Richard Roat told the SouthtownStar he buried bodies two and three deep for years. Roat worked at the cemetery’s sister property, Mount Glenwood Memory Gardens West near Hickory Hills.
Jeannie Walsh, owner of Mount Glenwood, said Roat was lying about burying multiple bodies in a single gravesite without the families' permission.
The cemetery does, however, sometimes bury two or three bodies in one grave if a family requests it, usually to save money or keep the remains of loved ones together, Walsh said.
"We are aware of complaints," Patterson said. "But do not know if there is a correlation between this civil suit and this bone being found. We have not been to Mt. Glenwood to conduct an investigation at this point."
Patterson said 26 investigators remain at the Bur Oak Cemetery.
Copyright SunTimes / NBC Chicago
Posted Monday, Jul 27, 2009 - 6:31 AM CST
