Jul 10, 2009 5:17 pm US/Central
Heartbroken Families Search Cemetery
Number Of Affected Gravesites Expected To Rise
ALSIP, Ill. (CBS) ―
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Tiffany Robinson stands outside the gate of Burr Oak Cemetery hoping to receive information about her cousin's grave July 8, 2009, in Alsip, Illinois.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
The search for deceased loved ones is bringing up raw emotions for the families of those buried at Burr Oak Cemetery.
Many had a difficult day trying to track down their relatives, now days after allegations of grave-dumping first surfaced.
Shirley Southern was among the hundreds of people waiting in the pouring rain for answers Friday.
"This is where they were at," Southern said. "Years ago, they bought these plots up."
Southern has 16 family members buried at Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip. She's only found one grave.
"It just makes you devastated, you know. Somebody would do this, to you. It's just really hard," Southern said. "I'm just really lost for words right now, really lost for words."
Southern says when she went to her sister's grave, she made a startling discovery.
"There's someone else's headstone, someone else's headstone, in the marking where she was," Southern said.
Southern wants to take all 16 of her relatives out of Burr Oak and move them to another cemetery.
She not only believes someone else is now buried in her sister's spot. She also says the lot where her family was laid to rest was reconfigured.
Yolanda Polk says her grandfather's grave isn't where it used to be, and she has a photograph taken of the gravesite on the day of his burial to prove what she's saying.
Polk says this photo, taken at her grandfather's gravesite the day he was buried, proves what she's saying.
"We are heartbroken," Polk said. "We're still mourning. It's only been two years. You know, it's really sad."
CBS 2 did find one ray of home among all the suffering.
On a rain-drenched, dreary day, we found one ray of hope among all the suffering.
It took two days for Michele V. Gregory to find her grandfather's grave. But, thankfully, she found it apparently undisturbed.
"And I'm happy this is over with I'm truly happy that it's over with," she said. "I feel sorry for all the people that are out here and there graves have been touched. My heart goes out to them and my prayers also."
If you have loved ones buried at Burr Oak Cemetery and want to check on their well-being, call (800) 942-1950, or locally, (708) 865-6070, or send an inquiry to BurrOakCemeteryInvestigation@gmail.com
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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