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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Four charged with US grave scam | Four charged with US grave scam |
| (about 6 hours later) | |
| Police have charged four people in connection with an alleged scheme to dig up graves at a Chicago cemetery in order to resell the plots. | |
| Bones from more than 100 bodies were discovered in mass graves at the city's Burr Oak Cemetery. | Bones from more than 100 bodies were discovered in mass graves at the city's Burr Oak Cemetery. |
| The historic burial ground contains the graves of a number of well-known African-American figures. | |
| Three grave diggers and an office manager have been charged with dismembering a human body. | Three grave diggers and an office manager have been charged with dismembering a human body. |
| They are accused of reselling plots so they could keep fees rather than passing them on the cemetery's Arizona-based owners. | |
| Bones from dozens of bodies and smashed up gravestones were discovered in an overgrown part of the cemetery in Alsip, 20 miles (30km) south of Chicago. | Bones from dozens of bodies and smashed up gravestones were discovered in an overgrown part of the cemetery in Alsip, 20 miles (30km) south of Chicago. |
| Up to 300 graves were reported to have been desecrated. | Up to 300 graves were reported to have been desecrated. |
| 'Startling and revolting' | 'Startling and revolting' |
| Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart told reporters that the scheme may have earned its perpetrators about $300,000 (£184,000) over four years. | |
| "This was not done in a very delicate way," he said | "This was not done in a very delicate way," he said |
| "They would excavate a grave... and then they would proceed to dump the remains wherever they found a place to do it in the back of the cemetery." | "They would excavate a grave... and then they would proceed to dump the remains wherever they found a place to do it in the back of the cemetery." |
| He added that those involved in the scheme would sometimes leave remains in a grave and then "pound them down and put someone else on top". | He added that those involved in the scheme would sometimes leave remains in a grave and then "pound them down and put someone else on top". |
| "What we found was beyond startling and revolting," he said. | "What we found was beyond startling and revolting," he said. |
| Investigators were still trying to work out how many plots had been re-sold under the scheme, which could have been operating for up to four years. | |
| The historic cemetery contains the graves of Emmett Till, whose 1955 lynching at the age of 14 galvanised the civil rights movement. | The historic cemetery contains the graves of Emmett Till, whose 1955 lynching at the age of 14 galvanised the civil rights movement. |
| Singer Dinah Washington, former world heavyweight boxing champion Ezzard Charles and Harlem Globetrotter Inman Jackson were also buried there. | Singer Dinah Washington, former world heavyweight boxing champion Ezzard Charles and Harlem Globetrotter Inman Jackson were also buried there. |
| Mr Dart said there was no evidence the historic graves had been targeted. | Mr Dart said there was no evidence the historic graves had been targeted. |
| Older, unmarked graves which had not been visited for a while appeared to have been dug up, he said. |