Forensic scientists have begun sorting the remains of hundreds of cadavers that were taken from their graves at Burr Oak Cemetery in the Chicago suburb of Alsip, Illinois. Four workers have been arrested for the alleged grave selling plot. Officials now estimate that close to 300 graves at the traditionally-black cemetery were tampered with. Family members of people buried there are trying to learn whether their loved ones' resting places were desecrated. Terry Dean of Oak Park, Illinois, has several family members buried at Burr Oak. He joins The Takeaway with his story. Also joining the conversation is Gary Laderman, author of Rest in Peace: A Cultural History of Death and the Funeral Home in Twentieth-Century America
"Who would think that you would have to check, not visit, but check to make sure that your relatives are still there? We lost them once and now we've lost them again."
—Terry Dean on recent grave tamperings
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Comments [2]
I buried my baby boy in burr oaks in 1986, it was hard enough losing at an early age, and now I have to live with knowing these monsters took my son away from me for a second time. I am a forgiving person, but this I don't think I will ever be able to forgive these people. I love you son, and no matter how long it takes I will get justice for you! r.i.p.baby boy 8-12-1985, 10-21-1986
It was telling that Terry Dean, the only person John Hockenberry talked to (besides an author) about the cemetary corruption scandal, didn't even know which of his relatives were buried there. Hockenberry kept putting words in Dean's mouth like "how devastated he must be" and his "agony and heartbreak"....Though selling occupied plots is obviously illegal and distasteful, Dean's lack of knowledge about the identity of his relatives and his acknowledgement that he hadn't visited in years just points up how ridiculous is the emphasis western society places on the burying of bodies, and the ritual of visiting burial sites. My grandmother and both my parents told us to cremate them, scatter the ashes, and use some of the money saved on having a funeral to get a good meal and toast their wonderful lives. Then move on. That's exactly what me and my siblings did.
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