4 workers accused of digging up bodies, reselling plots at historic Chicago-area cemetary

4 accused of digging up bodies at Ill. cemetary

ALSIP, Ill. — Four cemetary workers have been charged with dismembering bodies after police found what they called “startling and revolting” conditions at a historic cemetary near Chicago.

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart says workers at the Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip allegedly dug up more than 100 graves, dumped the bodies into unmarked mass graves and resold the plots to unsuspecting members of the public.

The three men and one woman were charged Thursday with one count each of dismembering a human body.

Burr Oak is the final resting place of many famous African-Americans, including lynching victim Emmett Till, blues singers Willie Dixon, Dinah Washington and Otis Spann, as well as Harlem Globetrotter Inman Jackson.