More bones found, cemetery closed to public
Authorities are closing the grounds of a historic black cemetery near Chicago where four employees are accused of digging up bodies to resell plots after more bones were found on the property.
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said Friday that families can no longer wander through Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip to check loved ones' graves because more of its 150 acres are now considered a crime scene.
Dart says law enforcement and families alike have found more bones while walking around the cemetery, which is the burial place of civil rights-era lynching victim Emmett Till.
The suspects are charged with dismembering a human body.
Families still will be able file inquires at the cemetery. Dart says he hopes to reopen Burr Oak to visitors in five to seven days.
<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=306294">Families grapple with anger at gravedigging scheme <span class="date">[07/11/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/?id=306300">More bones found, cemetery closed to public <span class="date">[07/11/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/?id=306228">Class-action lawsuit filed in cemetery desecration <span class="date">[07/10/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/?id=306047">Cemetery workers made $300K in gravedigging scheme <span class="date">[07/10/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=306047">Till's original casket found rusting in shack at Burr Oak Cemetery <span class="date">[07/10/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=306105&src=1">State targets cemetery license over grave scandal <span class="date">[07/10/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=306007">Families rush to site of disturbed burials <span class="date">[07/10/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=305702">Some 300 graves tampered with at Burr Oak Cemetery <span class="date">[07/09/09]</span></a></li> </ul> <h2>Video</h2> <ul class="video"> <li><a href="javascript:void(window.open('http://video.ap.org/?t=By%20Section/U.S.&g=0710dv_cemetery_desecration&f=ILARL','_blank','width=788,height=598,status=1,scrollbars=1,resizable=1'));">Police: Lynching Victim's Original Casket Found </a></li> <li><a href=" http://video.ap.org/?t=By%20Section/U.S.&g=0709dv_chi_graves_latest&f=ilarl','_blank','width=788,height=598,status=1,scrollbars=1,resizable=1'));">4 Accused of Digging Up Bodies </a></li> <li><a href="javascript:void(window.open('http://video.ap.org/?t=By%20Section/U.S.&g=0708dv_illinois_graves_resold&f=ILARL','_blank','width=788,height=598,status=1,scrollbars=1,resizable=1'));">Bodies Dug Up, Graves Resold at Ill. Cemetery </a></li> </ul> <h2>Related links</h2> <ul class="moreWeb"> <li><a href="http://www.cookcountysheriff.org/press_page/press_CemeteryWorkersCharged_07_09_2009.html">Sheriff's office announcement </a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>