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Gravedigger helped unearth Ill. cemetery scandal

Jul. 21, 2009
Willie Esper was just trying to get better at his job as a gravedigger when he unearthed a scandal. Loose bones kept turning up as he practiced digging holes with a backhoe in a supposedly unused section of Burr Oak Cemetery, a historic black graveyard near...
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Michelle Obama's father not in Burr Oak

Michelle Obama's father not in Burr Oak

CHICAGO, July 14 (UPI) -- A spokeswoman for first lady Michelle Obama Tuesday reversed herself and said Michelle Obama's father is not buried in Burr Oak Cemetery near Chicago.

Illinois moves to freeze cemetery funds

CHICAGO, July 14 (UPI) -- Illinois wants to freeze millions in trust funds controlled by the owner of a cemetery where at least 300 bodies allegedly were discarded, sources said.

Violated cemetery now a crime scene

ALSIP, Ill., July 11 (UPI) -- The entire Chicago-area cemetery where employees allegedly violated graves has been declared a crime scene, police said Saturday.

Baby graves missing in Illinois cemetery

CHICAGO, July 11 (UPI) -- Investigators have been unable to locate the section for infants' and other children's graves in Burr Oak Cemetery in suburban Chicago.

Lawsuit filed in cemetery desecration

CHICAGO, July 10 (UPI) -- A family filed a lawsuit Friday seeking damages following revelations that graves were dug up at a historic black cemetery in suburban Chicago.
Emmett Till's family seeking casket

Emmett Till's family seeking casket

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Police: Cemetery workers emptied graves

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Polish Jewish graveyard vandalized

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Old slave graveyard to be preserved

HANAHAN, S.C., Sept. 12 (UPI) -- A developer has agreed to preserve a cemetery dating back to the era of slavery that was rediscovered near Charleston, S.C.

Graveyard lands developer in hot water

CRYSTAL LAKE, Ga., July 12 (UPI) -- A developer violated state and county laws in moving a 19th century graveyard to make way for a luxury golf community near Crystal Lake, Ga., officials said.
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Lori Anne Madison, 6, competes in Scripps National Spelling Bee
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Lori Anne Madison, 6, of Woodbridge, Virginia, spells out the letters in her word as she competes during the opening round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, May 30, 2012, in National Harbor, Maryland. Madison, the youngest known qualifier in the history of the contest, correctly spelled the word "dirigible*", a lighter-than-air aircraft, to advance. UPI/Mike Theiler