Thousands of families of flood historic Ill. cemetery 4 accused of unearthing bodies

Families flood Ill. cemetery with unearthed graves

ALSIP, Ill. — Thousands of families have been flooding a historic black cemetery in Illinois where four people are accused of unearthing hundreds of corpses in a scheme to resell burial plots.

The Burr Oak Cemetery is the final resting place of lynching victim Emmett Till, as well as blues singers Willie Dixon and Dinah Washington. Investigators found Till’s original glass-topped casket rusting in a shack at the cemetery. The 14-year-old was killed in 1955 and his battered body helped spark the civil rights movement.

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart on Friday said about 2,000 families have come to the cemetery trying to determine the status of loved ones buried there. Dart says the families have reported about 30 disturbed graves.

(This version CORRECTS APNewsNow. corrects that 30 cases were part of hundreds of bodies found, not new cases; CHANGES headlines to conform.)