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.

Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes moved Monday to freeze $5.9 million in funds controlled by Perpetua Holdings, the Arizona company that owns Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip and a graveyard in Calumet Park, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Tuesday.

The trust funds are for cemetery maintenance and pre-purchased funerals, Hynes said.

At least 300 bodies at Burr Oak allegedly were dug up and discarded so the grave sites could be resold. Thousands of others buried at Burr Oak, including babies, have yet to be accounted for, the Sun-Times reported.

"Given the unconscionable discovery at Burr Oak, I don't want to take a chance that similar circumstances could be occurring under Perpetua's management at its other Illinois cemetery," Hynes said, adding he will seek to revoke Perpetua's license to operate in Illinois.

Hynes said he will ask the Illinois Legislature to give the state authority to oversee the maintenance and operations of cemeteries.

Perpetua executives declined to comment, the newspaper reported.