Tom Dart Calls Mass Baby Burials 'Disturbing,' Pushes For Change In Burial Process For Indigent Persons (VIDEO)

While it certainly doesn't sound legal to have 26 babies buried together in a wooden box along with unidentified limbs and bones, the practice is actually a standard one in Cook County--and Sheriff Tom Dart wants to change that.

For years, the bodies of unidentified people or those unable to afford burial have been sent to mass graves at Homewood Memorial Gardens. On Thursday, however, Dart called the taxpayer-funded practice "disturbing" and said the handling of these burials threatens to impede criminal investigation processes by law enforcement agencies.

"We have been informed people are buried eight deep out there," Dart said at a news conference Thursday (scroll down for video). "There is no rhyme or reason. There is no grid system. You couldn't find people if you wanted to find them."

Dart wants the burial policies for indigent persons changed statewide, and is supporting a bill sponsored by State Rep. William Cunningham of Chicago.

From the Cook County Sheriff's office:

HB1457, introduced last week, requires all coroners or medical examiners to obtain a DNA sample for those unidentified at the time of burial, then affixing a metal identification tag to the body. There are about 12 unidentified people buried in Cook County every year. Taking a DNA sample from those 12 could also prove useful to the National Crime Information Center, which lists more than 100,000 people as missing. The bill calls for a $1 fee to be added for copies of death certificates to cover any incurred expenses.

Dart hopes the bill will not only lead to a more humane burial process in the state, but help local law enforcement agencies solve cold cases with DNA evidence.

At the Thursday news conference, Dart said he witnessed as many as 26 babies buried together earlier this month, in the same wooden box as assorted items identified only as "mixed tissues."

"From a law enforcement we were disturbed," he said. "From a human standpoint we were absolutely appalled."

Dart and sheriff's police uncovered a massive scandal at Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip in 2009, where three gravediggers and a cemetery manager allegedly dumped corpses into weeded areas and double-stacked others in existing graves in an elaborate scheme to resell the plots.

WATCH CBS Chicago's coverage of the burials here:

Comments

[1donewrong]

04:05 PM on 02/20/2011

people are suprised how else will they get rid of the 1.5 million each year

[Howard53545]

11:55 AM on 02/18/2011

By pass a trial, take these killers out now with a bullet in the back of the ear. Good riddance

[Lolly]

05:41 PM on 02/19/2011

??? What killers? These are babies of poor parents who died. We don't know how--that's part of the problem.

[ReadMyLipstick1]

10:36 AM on 02/18/2011

The problem is such a significant number of deceased, unknown adults and babies in one county. Solving the problem is costly and will take time. Dealing with the result is an efficient, respectful, and yes, inexpensive way in which to bury these people.

[Richcrafter]

09:54 AM on 02/18/2011

So wrong. Barbaric. Sick, inhumane. Us.

[Tyler1987]

09:29 AM on 02/18/2011

I blame Boehner and the Republicans for not regulating the burial industry. Think of how many JOBS it would create if they would!

[Unshriven]

09:10 AM on 02/18/2011

The horrific trappings of poverty suffered by some are offset by the sumptious luxury enjoyed by others.
That's America.

[belladio]

08:34 AM on 02/18/2011

They did mass burials like this in the dark & middle ages. Is that what they really want this country to become? Throw 'em in a pit and forget about them?

How very UN-enlightened.

[GeoToronto]

07:48 AM on 02/18/2011

This is the kind of thing you hear about in 3rd world countries, the USA.
I'm sure no one would mind donating a few bucks for a decent burial for some babies.

[WykydRed]

05:54 AM on 02/18/2011

Well, as long as there is a forensically sound reason, and this is a very, very good one, yeah, it's a good plan to initiate.

[Jim Shaffer]

05:51 AM on 02/18/2011

Wow! 12 unidenttified corpses a year! Mental note: STAY OUT OF COOK COUNTY.

[stroobs]

07:33 AM on 02/18/2011

Were you planning on being homeless on the streets of Chicago? Chicago is a world class city IN Cook Co. I'm so sure we'll miss you.

[Tyler1987]

09:31 AM on 02/18/2011

Didn't Chicago loose 200,000 people in the past 10 years. The current population of the city is what it was in 1920. I don't see too many "world class cities" suffering from a mass exodus like Chicago has in recent years...

[Doc P]

08:28 AM on 02/19/2011

It might be world class but theyre stacking dead people like boxes. And piling up babies like an Eastern Europe mass grave...

[camanokat]

04:08 AM on 02/19/2011

Chicago is a beautiful city with very nice people...but O'Hare is awful!

[farmerlady]

05:36 AM on 02/18/2011

I don't agree with some of the posts here. I think we should treat the dead with some basic dignity. At the very least, we should create a DNA bank for future crime investigations and respectfully cremate the corpses if burial is a problem.

[WykydRed]

06:02 AM on 02/18/2011

Actually, that would be a very fine idea, cremation. The problem is once cremated, the bodies can't give up any more evidence. Courts would not only have to rely on DNA (which can only lead to a positive match on more DNA), they'd have to rely on all the reports, x-rays, dental information, etc. There would be no chance to go back and actually look, feel and investigate the bones and teeth, which could be very telling. That would require every, single body to be recorded in thousands of different ways and the information stored. Sounds good until the lights go out in a city at night because there isn't any more money. Or schools shut down or have to become over-crowded. Taxpayers have things they all complain about because "I don't want MY tax money funding that!" And people are idiotic and fanatical and one-sided. In a lot of "natural" cause cases (especially adults), cremation is a great idea! When it comes to kids and crime, even the people in the system would have a problem with that. Individual burial is better than stacking the "evidence" in a big pile.

[farmerlady]

07:00 AM on 02/18/2011

All true. Sad that we can't seem to manage this.

[Waltereg0]

08:05 AM on 02/18/2011

If the bodies are only being stored as information then stacking them ought to be fine. But where no crime has been committed and the person is simply going into a pauper's grave. then cremation should be offered as an alternative.

[camanokat]

04:13 AM on 02/18/2011

Hey, they're dead...does it matter? I don't care what happens to my body after I die. It would be nice if my kids would bury me in the woods and plant a tree on top, though.

[WykydRed]

08:58 AM on 02/19/2011

You could donate it to one of the Body Farms..... I did. That way my daughter could occasionally visit me while upping her first-hand forensic knowledge. Two birds, one stone!

[Doc P]

11:13 AM on 02/19/2011

Cremate and put in an urn-on my daughters shelf!

[sdried]

03:28 AM on 02/18/2011

When I lived in New York City in the '90's, a van made the rounds collecting corpses at each of the city's five boroughs' morgues on each weekday. On Saturday they were buried four deep and eight across. The time to be concerned with these people was when they were alive. Now they are gone and the deepest respect we need pay for them is that they are laid to rest respectfully and in the cheapest and most environmentally friendly way possible. They would have expected no more.

[ReadMyLipstick1]

10:27 AM on 02/18/2011

Good points, and totally agree with you.

[thereisonlyoneparty]

03:12 AM on 02/18/2011

Burial is a strange ritual as it is.

This just not logical.  There is no reason to tag the bodies after DNA is obtained.  Just get the DNA and dump them in a field.  The people are dead.  It does not matter anymore.

The concept of cemeteries and "personal space" for the dead is just goofy.

[Just a passerby]

08:26 AM on 02/18/2011

I can see where it would matter. Suppose the unidentified bodies turned out to be murder victims? Investigators would want DNA to identify the person, and the body to determine whether the cause of death was homicide.

[jmar829]

11:22 AM on 02/18/2011

DNA samples are taken from the deceased in the autopsy process.

[thereisonlyoneparty]

07:48 PM on 02/18/2011

The cause of death would likely be known during the initial investigation.

After DNA is collected there is no real use for the body.

[European1919]

02:36 AM on 02/18/2011

Strange customs.