Sheriff: More human bones scattered at Burr Oak cemetery

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart says more examination of the grounds of a suburban Chicago cemetery suggests that the remains of hundreds more people than originally thought were dug up as part of an alleged scheme to resell burial plots.

Dart says he thinks the remains of at least 500 people were moved — not the 300 that detectives estimated in 2009 when his office arrested four employees at Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip.

Dart on Monday said an examination by archaeologists revealed that an area the cemetery has said was used only to dump broken headstones and other debris was used to dump human remains.

Dart has been fighting a plan to resume burials in that area of Burr Oak.