Cook County Sheriff's officers began exhuming three seperate grave sites at the scandal plagued Burr Oak cemetery Friday, and at least one of those sites yielded evidence of a double burial, which prosecutors contend was a common practice by their star suspects.
"An individual's casket was removed, and someone was put underneath them," said Sheriff Tom Dart, who says his office sought and obtained court orders to obtain all three exhumations.
The second casket was removed, and the first was reburied, during a brief ceremony attended by the family of the deceased.
At the other two sites, authorities said one burial did not match the cemetery's records, while the other featured a grave with no casket where the remains were visible through a gaping hole.
Dart said while the investigation for physical evidence was nearing completion, he could not say how soon his investigators would leave the cemetery property.
"I personally would have a very difficult time leaving this cemetery, until people can come back and visit their loved onesn" he said, indicating there is still plenty of cleanup to be done.
Dart said a Web site his office set up this week, featuring photos of undisturbed graves, has had at least a quarter million hits since it went live on Wednesday.
On Thursday, Sheriff's spokesman Steve Patterson said over 900 bones had been collected in two primary crime scenes, and he expected that number to exceed 1,000 by the end of the day Friday.
