The horrendous debacle at Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip is touching nearly every Black family in Chicago.
The horrendous debacle at Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip is touching nearly every Black family in Chicago.
Just when it was thought that it could not get any worse – loved ones not being able to find the gravesites of their deceased family members, evidence of plots being sold and resold, discovery of discarded headstones, discovery of a mass grave, evidence of bodies being dismembered and relatives finding human bones as they walk through the cemetery – the Cook County sheriff reported that the sloppy record management may prohibit his office from answering some families’ questions and putting others at ease.
Now of course, reports are that the record keeping at the cemetery was so bad that searchers have no idea where “Babyland,” the area of the cemetery set aside for the interment of infants and toddlers, is located.
While at first it seemed perhaps 200-300 gravesites were affected, now no one can be sure of anything at Burr Oak except that this macabre affair has stunned families, and shattered the trust families have in an entire funeral and burial industry.
What has become obvious is that no one, positively no one, was minding the store, and the lack of regulation and accountability is what has permitted this travesty. The state Comptroller’s office is supposed to oversee cemeteries, but it has no teeth, no real powers. The sheriff was called in once it became a criminal matter, but there were complaints over the past few years about lousy maintenance at Burr Oak. Heavy rains made parts of the cemetery impassable, and some headstones tilted and fell. While the Alsip borough office filed complaints, the penalties were fines of $25 and $50, hardly a deterrent.
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