Horrendus example of greed and disrespect

[infomama]

I just could not believe this story when I read it. What is the world is wrong with these people?!

'Hundreds of people combed the rows of an old, historically black cemetery in this town south of Chicago on Friday, hoping that their loved ones were not among those corpses — at least 300 discovered so far, county officials say — that had been dug up and tossed into a heap at the far end of the grounds. The authorities are describing the mass disinterment as a ghoulish moneymaking scheme to resell plots.'
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/11/us/11cemetery.html?ref=us

[dcmom2b3]

I hate to say it, but these kinds of abuses are not unknown in the burial industry (and I choose the word "industry" purposefully.) It's the reason that I will only choose burial in a private cemetery affiliated with my church. While they may not have funds to keep the grass cut just so, I know that they won't dig me up for whatever reason.

[wellyes]

I've heard stories about graves being dug and and re-used before, but this is probably the first I've heard where the bodies being discarded were from the recently deceased. In the article someone talks about an empty hole where her MIL used to be buried. That's just awful.

And the bit about collecting funds for an Emmett Till memorial, but apparently just keeping them - that's pretty damn low even for crooks.

[ha98ed14]

I read the article. It's horrific. But there is one thing I don't understand: Without being too, um graphic, if they were digging up people who had been buried, wouldn't the people have been in caskets? The article references exposed human remains. So did they leave their caskets in the ground? Sorry. Not to be graphic. I just don't get how they could have has a pile of remains and not have drawn attention by the smell and animals and whatnot.

[kijip]

That is sick. Seriously, seriously greedy and insane.

I'm with Mary-Helen in that at least I know I can trust the church not to resell my mother's grave.

[infomama]

And the bit about collecting funds for an Emmett Till memorial, but apparently just keeping them - that's pretty damn low even for crooks.
So so sad. I was just mortified when I read on on learned this:

'While Emmett Till’s remains were undisturbed, members of his family struggled for strength Friday after learning that his original coffin, the one in which his mutilated body had been exposed for viewing and photographs, photographs that became part of the pictorial record of the civil rights movement, had been left to rot in a garbage-strewn shed and house rats and raccoons.'

[MamaMolly]

Sadly this is not isolated. My local news just had a story about this very thing last night here in our area (NoVA). And when I lived in GA there was a huge scandal about a crematory that wasn't operational (the machine broke) but kept taking bodies and had them stacked like cord wood and some were dumped in the nearby lake. Horrifying.

[malphy]

this is one of the reasons why i want to be cremated.

sickening