Jul 29, 2009 10:21 pm US/Central
Sheriff's Office Sets Up Burr Oak Database
ALSIP, Ill. (CBS) ―
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The Cook County Sheriff's Office has launched a website for Burr Oak gravesite inquiries.
CBS
The heartbreaking search for the graves of loved ones at Burr Oak Cemetery is far from finished. But for many families, the painstaking, heart-wrenching task is getting a little easier. CBS 2's Dana Kozlov explains.
Gloria Muhammad and her daughter Makeda have spent weeks searching for information about her Gloria's husband, Clark Kirk's Burr Oak gravesite.
Buried near the back of the cemetery close to one of Burr Oak's crime scenes, they've feared the worst since news of the grave reselling for money plot broke. Weeks later, their lack of information still haunts them.
"It just leaves you wondering why," Gloria said. "And if you sit and think about it too long, it's really painful."
But thousands of families like the Muhammads now have another tool in their search for answers. The Cook County Sheriff's department has launched a partially completed
website for Burr Oak gravesite inquiries.
Once on the home page, you can click on "Search Headstone Photos" and enter in the name of a loved one presumed buried there.
We randomly entered the last name 'Jones' and matches were then listed on the screen. At that point, you can click on "View Image" and actually see the headstone.
"Being able to easily search by name, then finding a picture of the headstone as it looks now, will answer a lot of questions for a lot of people," Sheriff Tom Dart said. "It's our hope that this Web site can help calm the fears of many of those worried about their family gravesites."
But remember, if your loved one's name is not on the website, this is still only a partial list. Pictures of the remaining headstones are being uploaded currently by sheriff's staff and will be entered into the Web site over the next two weeks.
Unfortunately, the search went nowhere for Gloria and Makeda who also attempted to find an uncle's grave.
"No results," Makeda said.
But both say they're not giving up.
When asked if they would go back and search on the website at a later date, Gloria said, "I would."
"Definitely," Makeda said.
The Web site was created in the wake of a scheme that saw cemetery employees disinterring caskets and then re-selling burial plots to unsuspecting families. To date, four cemetery employees have been criminally charged for their roles in that scheme, which those involved say impacted hundreds of graves.
A sheriff's department spokesperson says so far, only 10,000 of 50,000 names and headstones are in the system. They hope to have all the names in by mid-August. At that point, families looking for loved ones without headstones can go to a request information page on the site and ask for help.
And while the website is up and running, there's still no official re-opening date for Burr Oak Cemetery itself.
Click here to search the website for Burr Oak cemetery information.
The STNG Wire contributed to this report.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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