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Saying he is essentially running Burr Oak Cemetery himself, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said today he's asked for an emergency order from a judge to place the disgraced cemetery in a third party receivership.
That means a judge would appoint someone to take over the day-to-day operations.
"There is nobody running the cemetery right now, other than me," Dart said at an afternoon news conference. Dart, who has more than 200 sheriff's deputies either investigating or assisting families seeking answers at the cemetery, said the cemetery owner has failed to send assistance.
Cemetery workers have been asking Dart when to take a lunch break, and when to go home for the day, he said.
Dart said his requests for help from the owners have fallen on deaf ears.
"We don't get a response," Dart said. "They know the address, we haven't seen them." The CEO of the company that owns Burr Oak, Perpetua Holdings of Illinois, broke his silence today, issuing a statement, blasting the behavior of former employees as "absolutely despicable." "I extend my heart-filled sympathies to all of those who have loved ones buried at Burr Oak Cemetery, " CEO Melvin Bryant said.
Meanwhile, Dart said at the same times he's trying to go through 53,000 requests for information from family members, he's finding the record-keeping at the cemetery is in complete disarray. He said the a record book for the entire year of 2005 is completely missing. Other books are missing large sections. He said one book was found in the rafters and appeared to have been there for some time.
He brought out one filing cabinet containing record cards of burial plots.
The rusted out cabinet was deteriorated and covered in cobwebs.
Dart opened a drawer, releasing a slight stench and crumbles of mold that fell to the floor. Inside, a layer of mold covered the cards, which themselves were falling apart or were stuck together.
"This is what we're dealing with," he said.
