Photos: Bond Set In Cemetery Scam

Bond was set Thursday morning for four people charged in an alleged plot in which as many as 100 bodies were removed from graves so burial sites could be resold at historic Burr Oak Cemetery in southwest suburban Alsip.

Carolyn Towns, 49; Keith Nicks, 45; Terrence Nicks, 39, all of Chicago; and Maurice Dailey, 59, of Robbins, are each charged with dismembering a human body, a Class X felony, according to Cook County State’s Attorney’s office spokeswoman Tandra Simonton.

Towns was ordered held on $250,000 bond Thursday, while the other three were ordered held on $200,000 bond each, according to a Cook County Sheriff’s Department spokesman. An Aug. 6 preliminary hearing date has been set.

According to the SouthtownStar, one of the suspects is the manager of the cemetery and the others are gravediggers. The Better Business Bureau lists Towns as director of operations for the cemetery, according to the BBB website.

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart on Wednesday said his office learned that employees of the cemetery have dug up more than 100 graves, dumped the bodies in a mass pile in an unused portion of the graveyard, then resold the plots to other customers.

For at least the past four years, employees were excavating entire burial casks -- including the concrete vault that surrounds the coffin -- moving them to an area on the north end of the property and smashing them into pieces, Dart said.

The sheriff's department started investigating the cemetery six weeks ago when the owners contacted the department, Dart said.

He said employees taking part in the scheme would bury new bodies in the plots, but would do so off the books so cemetery records would not show their treachery. From the outside it would appear the bodies were never moved, he said.

The sheriff's department has reached out to local clergy and funeral homes for help in identifying the remains.

The 150-acre cemetery at 4400 W. 127th St. is owned by Tucson, Ariz.-based Perpetua Inc.

It was the Chicago region's first black cemetery. Among those interred there are 14-year-old murder victim Emmett Till and legendary blues singer Dinah Washington.

It's unclear if the graves of any of the famous people have been desecrated, but Till's grave is thought to remain intact, Dart said.

Residents with questions about Burr Oak are asked to contact the sheriff's department at (800) 942-1950 or email them at burroakcemeteryinvestigation@gmail.com.

The sheriff's department and state's attorney's office is holding a press conference at 1 p.m. at the cemetery to discuss developments in the investigation.
 

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