WKOW 27: Madison, WI Breaking News, Weather and SportsMadison family says relative's grave appears tampered

Madison family says relative's grave appears tampered

ALSIP, ILLINOIS (WKOW) -- Thousands of families descended upon the Burr Oak Cemetery last week in suburban Chicago. The scene was controlled chaos.

"If you didn't have the stomach, you wouldn't want to go out there," said Mildred Johnson. "It was terrible."

Johnson, and many of her eastside Madison relatives, were among those who searched plot by plot, examining if someone tampered with their loved one's final resting places.

Some, like that of seven-month old Tawana Chambers, were kept intact. When they looked for Brian Chambers, Sr., however, the scene was different. The family took a picture of his gravesite on Friday. A marker was missing. The dirt was overturned.

"It was horrible, and that was a seven-year-plot," said widow Nakisha Chambers. "Three years ago, it did not look like that."

"There were sticks sticking out of it," said relative Elena Smith. "I guess that was a marker maybe to let them know to bury somebody there next, I don't know."

The question is whether Chambers is still resting in peace, or was moved, as 300 other remains reportedly were.

"I'm just praying to God, that if we can find him, if he's not there, somewhere there are remains of him to put him back to rest," said Chambers.

The fate of other relatives is unknown. At least one was buried in a section roped off by investigators. That's an area where bones were found and headstones strewn about. To complicate matters, investigators have now closed off the entire Burr Oak Cemetery, calling it a crime scene. So far, a former manager and three workers have been charged with dismembering human corpses. Investigators allege they were part of a plot to resell gravesites.

"We are going back, because we want to know who owns this cemetery now," affirmed Johnson. "Who's going to be responsible for answering all our questions?"

This large family admits it could take years to sort out everything, and even longer to decide where to hold burials in the future.

"At this point, we don't know who to trust," said Smith. "We've trusted our loved ones into this place for so many years, and to hear this, it's devastating."

The family says members have been in touch with attorneys. They also know of at least three other local families from their church, Christ the Solid Rock Baptist, who also have buried relatives there.

Investigators encourage relatives of those buried at Burr Oak to call or email with questions at 1-800-942-1950 or 1-708-865-6070, or email at burroakcemeteryinvestigation@gmail.com

The cemetery in Alsip, Illinois has about 100,000 grave sites. The Cook County Sheriff's Office says it has received more than 7,000 written inquiries about people buried at the cemetery.

The historic black cemetery is also home to the grave of civil rights-era lynching victim Emmett Till. His grave site was not disturbed.

Click here to read previous reports on this story and watch a web exclusive interview with the family from Friday, July 10th.

Email Carl Agnelly at cagnelly@wkowtv.com

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