Searchable Database For Burr Oak Coming Soon

Authorities plan to give the public access to a searchable online database of nearly 100,000 graves at the historic black cemetery where four people are accused of digging up graves to resell the plots.

The Cook County sheriff's office says the database will likely be available later this week.

Sheriff's spokesman Steve Patterson said it was created using existing records from Burr Oak Cemetery and county death certificates. He said anyone with relatives buried at Burr Oak is urged to gather their own records to help in the effort.

Burr Oak is the burial place of civil rights-era lynching victim Emmett Till and several other prominent African-Americans. It was closed earlier this month after authorities charged the four employees accused in the grave-selling scheme with dismembering a human body.

Nearly 300 graves are believed to have been disturbed.

The Web site for the Cook County Sheriff's Department has a list of frequently asked questions.