Burr Oak Cemetery investigated by Archaelogists-YourFuneralGuy

Image via Wikipedia

Burr Oak cemetery is being investigated by archaelogists in order to complete the deal of the sale of the cemetery. Perpetua  Inc the bankrupt owner, will complete it’s sale to Cemcare once the survey is completed and it is confirmed that burials can be completed at the cemetery.

In uly 2009 over 300 graves were found to be desecrated at the cemetery.

As a condition of its sale to a south suburban company, Burr Oak Cemetery recently has been examined by archaeologists investigating the larger of its crime scenes, Cook County Sheriff’s police said Tuesday.

via www.wlsam.com

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CBO issue A Report On Bereaved Consumers Bill Of Rights Act-Your Funeral Guy

HR3655 will stop future Burr Oak Cemetery Scandal s-Image via Wikepedia

The Congressional Budget Office(CBO) has issued a report on HR3655 The Bereaved Consumers Bill of Rights Act.  This is also known as Funeral Rule 2.

The Bill Essentially will require cemeteries to operate under the funeral rule. Cemetery records on a computer are required. Price disclosures to consumers will be a requirement of Law.

This will prevent Cemetery scandals like those that occurred recently at Burr Oak Cemetery and Eden Memorial Park, a Service Corporation International Firm.

This legislation will bring significant needed reform to death care. The CBO Report brings the Legislation  HR3655 a step closer to full US House of Representative Passage

Here is a Snippet from the Full CBO report.

“Based on the information from the FTC CBO assumes would require five additional positions at a cost of 1 million per year to develop, enforce the new requirements,  train staff and develop education materials.”

View the full CBO Report here.

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One Year Later|Sheriff Recomends No Burials at Burr Oak-yourfuneralguy

One year after the gruesome revelations  at Burr Oak Cemetery the Cook County Sheriff is not recommending burials take place at that location. Stating that Folks are emotionally damaged due to the scandal, Sheriff Tom Dart feels that  conducting burials there would be not be workable.

It’s been a year since police began discovering skeletal remains above ground at Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip.
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart took over Burr Oak Cemetery in the days and weeks after the bones were being discovered and an alleged grave dumping scandal was uncovered.

New owners are in line to take over, but the sheriff says they should not put new graves in the area where most of the skeletal remains were found on the northwest corner of Burr Oak.

Dart says, “You can never operate it like any ol’ cemetery. Certain areas are sacrosanct. You can’t dig there because there are remains back there and they’re never going to be actually excavated.”

Sheriff Dart says that, in the end, the Burr Oak scandal left a lot of emotionally damaged families.

Burr Oak Cemetery is open for burials once again, but Dart doesn’t think there’s much, if any, room to bury any more bodies. He says even after all the work to sort out the hodge podge of burial records there, there are still occasional problems, like going to bury someone only to find “there’s somebody already in there.”

via wbbm.cbslocal.com

Over 300 graves were desecrated at Burr Oak Cemetery. There was a grave plot selling scandal with four people arrested. There is yet to be a trial in this matter.

The scandal has brought new cemetery legislation in the State of Illinois, but the fate of the National legislation proposed by Congressman Bobby Rush-the Bereaved Consumers Bill of Rights Act HR 3655-remains to be seen.

Funeral industry|Funeral News|Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy

Burr Oak Cemetery Sold with condition|Your Funeral Guy

Burr Oak Cemetery has been sold with a condition. The price was not $25,000 but $110,000 Dollars. The deal included Cedar Park, which brought the total deal to 1 million dollars.

Click here to see a video on the The sale of Burr Oak Cemetery

Burr Oak Cemetery was the cemetery where less than a year ago it was discovered that over 300 graves were desecrated and bones were piled up all over the cemetery.

There is a catch to the deal: It’s contingent on obtaining permission to perform burials in 9 acres on the northern side of Burr Oak Cemetery. It’s the area the workers allegedly used as a dumping ground for human remains.

“It’s very important to get the cemetery into the hands of qualified operators who have the funds to run it the way it should be run,” said Robert Fishman, Burr Oak debtors’ attorney.

via abclocal.go.com

Funeral Industry|Funeral News|Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy

The Burr Oak Cemetery Scandal inspired Congressman Bobby Rush to introduce the Bereaved Consumers Bill Of Rights Act of 2009.

New Lawsuit In Burr Oak Cemetery Scandal|YourFuneral Guy

There is a new lawsuit in the Burr Oak  Cemetery tragedy. It was Filed in Cook County circuit Court on Monday, April 26th 2010. The lady involved had multiple relatives remains desecrated.

The Burr Oak cemetery Scandal was exposed in July 2009. At the cemetery, 300 graves were desecrated and bones were piled up at various locations around the cemetery, in a horrifying scene.

New National Funeral and Cemetery legislation is making it’s way through Congress as a direct Response to this scandal. The legislation is called the Bereaved Consumers Bill of Rights Act of 2009.

Burr Oak Cemetery was sued today by a woman who says her relatives’ remains were knowingly desecrated in order to resell their burial plots.

Nellie Riley’s attorney filed the lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court alleging that the remains of her deceased mother, father, three brothers and sister were destroyed by cemetery staff. Hundreds of bodies at the cemetery were dug up to resell the plots for $300,000, the complaint says.

via www.chicagobreakingnews.com

Funeral Industry|Funeral News|Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy

Burr Oak Cemetery Auction April 26th 2010-YourFuneralGuy

The last day to enter a bid on Burr Oak Cemetery is today April 26th 2010. A Bankruptcy Judge is to approve the sale  on April 27th 2010,

The auction is happening in the law Offices of the firm handling the cemetery bankruptcy  for Perpetua Inc the current owner of the cemetery.

A bankruptcy court judge already has approved an offer of $25,000 for Burr Oak in Alsip and $650,000 for its sister cemetery, Cedar Park Cemetery in Calumet Park. Today’s auction will determine if anyone is willing to go higher.

The bid that already has passed court muster came from Cemecare, described as a partnership between Gatling Community Development Inc. and Restvale Cemetery in Alsip.

via www.chicagobreakingnews.com

The Burr oak Cemetery Scandal was exposed in July 2009 where over 300 graves were desecrated, and several cemetery workers arrested.

Burr Oak Cemetery to go for 25 Grand? YourFuneralGuy

Burr Oak Cemetery is to be auctioned off by a US Federal Bankruptcy Court

The Burr Oak  Cemetery Auction is Scheduled for auction on April 26th 2010. Right now there is newly formed company who has made  bid on Burr Oak Cemetery, The  biding firm is  Cemecare. Perpetua  is the company going  bankrupt in US Federal Bankruptcy Court.

The bid consists of:

$25,000 dollars for Burr Oak Cemetery(105 acres). In all likelihood this will become an historical cemetery and there will be few or no burials there.

$250,000.00  dollars for Cedar Park Cemetery(90 acres). This will be a fully operational cemetery.

The offer accepted last week calls for Cemecare to pay $25,000 for the 105-acre Burr Oak Cemetery and $650,000 for the 90-acre Cedar Park Cemetery, Korenthal explained.
Korenthal said while Cemecare’s offer has been accepted another buyer could still purchase the cemeteries if their bid exceeds $675,000 at a scheduled April 26 public auction.
“The properties will go to the highest bidder, so if an offer comes in at $1 million then Cemecare would have to make a higher offer to acquire the properties,” Korenthal told the Defender. “But whoever ends up buying Burr Oak they would not be responsible for the civil lawsuits that have been filed.”

via www.chicagodefender.com

Funeral Industry|Funeral News| Funeral blog by Your Funeral Guy, Funeral Director, Illinois and Virginia.

Funeral and Cemetery Reform moves closer to passage|Your Funeral Guy

Funeral and Cemetery reform moving through Congress.

Breaking News-Funeral and Cemetery Reform Moved closer to passage in the US Congress yesterday, The Bereaved Consumers Bill of Rights Act moved from the House Subcommittee,to the Full Energy and  Commerce Committee in the US House of Representatives. This bill will bring positive changes to the Funeral Industry by bringing cemeteries and Third party Vendors under the Funeral Rule.

The Bill states that a seperate rule would be created for cemeteries, and sellers of funeral goods and burial services.  This bill was written in reaction to the Burr Oak Cemetery Scandal.  If passed the legislation should prevent another Burr Oak Cemetery Scandal from occurring in the United States.

READ the bill and more  info here

The bill was proposed by Congressman Bobby Rush, of the First District of Illinois.Read  Congressman’s Bobby Rush  latest statement on the bill here.

The Bereaved Consumers Bill Of Rights Act is moving through Congress.

In a mark-up meeting today, the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection voted to send the “Bereaved Consumer’s Bill of Rights Act of 2009” (H.R. 3655) to the full House Energy and Commerce Committee for consideration, moving it one step closer to passage. (A mark-up is the part of the legislative process during which the committee with jurisdiction over the bill reviews, amends and approves it, preparing it for consideration by the full House of Representatives.) The bill, which was introduced by Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., would require the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to initiate a separate rule that would cover cemeteries and all other sellers of funeral or burial goods or services.

Now, the House Energy and Commerce Committee will consider the bill, likely after the Easter recess. If H.R. 3655 passes the House Energy and Commerce Committee, it will move to the House of Representatives for debate and a vote

via www.facebook.com

Funeral Industry|Funeral News| Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy

Illinois Cemetery Oversight Board comes into existence-Your Funeral Guy

Parts of the Illinois  Cemetery Oversight Act  take effect today. To sum up The Cemetery Oversight Board comes into existence today. This is part  the Legislation that the Illinois Governor Quinn signed into law before the election in February.

The cemetery Oversight Task Force was set up in response to the Burr Oak Cemetery Scandal of  July 2009. The center of the legislation is to move cemetery regulation into the Illinois Department of  Financial and Professional Regulation, and the Cemetery Oversight Board.

This new board is an integral part of a wider, more comprehensive regulatory framework enacted to protect families in their dealings with cemeteries, funeral directors, and embalmers,” IDFPR Secretary Brent E. Adams said.

The creation of a nine-member Cemetery Oversight Board was a major component of the law that resulted from the many reforms and recommendations of the Cemetery Oversight Task Force.

via cbs2chicago.com

Funeral Industry|Funeral News| Funeral blog by Your Funeral Guy

Your Funeral Guy Debates 2003 Burr Oak Perpetua CEO-On “Coverup” Memo

The other day I had a significant  E-mail exchange  with the former 2003 CEO Of Burr Oak Cemetery the memo exposed by Chuck Goudie Of ABC Local  last  Friday Night. The Email Exchange is presented here-there is no editorial  on this in this post beyond the E-mails.

From: “SLIVY@xxx.com” <SLIVY@xxx.com>
To: YourFuneralGuy@yahoo.com
Sent: Tue, February 2, 2010 11:12:54 AM
Subject: Do You Ever Read The Background Information on The “News” You Pass Along?

The Memo Clearly points to a  Perpetua INC,  cover up of known Grave desecration with an effort to hide the  info from  ILLINOS COMPTROLLER OFFICE  EMPLOYEE DAVID FOLEY.  Perpetua is a Funeral and cemetery company owner the of Burr Oak Cemetery (Scandal). SHOW ME WHERE?

THE LATEST INFORMATION REVEALS PERPETUA INC AND SILVY EDMONDS COTTON  ATTEMPTING TO  COVER UP GRAVE DESECRATION, AND POSSIBLE GRAVE ROBBING at BURR OAK CEMETERY. SHOW ME WHERE?

Astute lawyers and victims have included Perpetua Inc and Silvy Cotton in their lawsuits. ARE YOU ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO SUE ME BASED ON YOUR FAULTY ANALAYSIS?

The 2003 Memo related to possible desecrations of graves that I uncovered which I believed to have occurred over decades; a point that would be clear to anyone who read the complete files I submitted to the FBI several months ago, but should be clear to anyone who can read the Memo that was posted online.  Since it was I who investigated the finding in 2003, and it was I who contacted our attorney to find out who in the Comptroller’s office we should report the incident to; and it was I who was told to contact David Foley in the Comptroller’s office; and since it was I who contacted David Foley and set up the meeting that the Comptroller’s office confirms did occur; and since it was I who provided the Memo to the FBI several months ago who the hell are you to even suggest that I hid any information from David Foley or the Comptroller’s office? Did you read any of the information? I have consulted with a couple of people in the industry who told me to just ignore you since you are viewed as somewhat of a hack, however, my attorney is concerned that you are slandering my name and character. If it doesn’t stop I WILL take legal action against you.

If you were anything of a Consumer advocate you should be questioning whether there was a scandal in July 2009 at all. Does it seem strange to you that the crime scene and the area I identified in 2003 are one and the same? You should be questioning why Burr Oak Cemetery was INVADED with the entire cemetery turned upside down, when a cemetery with almost twice as many allegations in California during the same timeframe didn’t suffer a similar approach.  Find the answer to those questions and then you can consider yourself relevant. Otherwise, stop trying to turn facts into gossip.

Sincerely,Slivy Edmonds Cotton  (This is my correct name)

Slivy Edmonds Cotton  (This is my correct name)

Here is the First Response:

Hello,

The memo clearly reveals grave desecrations -and that you did not think the info would go to the comptroller-although you clearly placed the blame on previous owner. There is no evidence that you revealed the problem to Law enforcement authorities. In fact what is stated is that you did not think the comptroller would find out.

Show Me answer “I am not sure he would want to report anything to the Comptroller that would be unpleasant”

I am totally in my rights to my opinion on this memo posted at  the Capital Fax blog
I am not encouraging people to sue you- people are suing you which is all that I stated.
I apologize for spelling your name wrong.It is being Corrected.

I have reported extensively on The other Scandal Eden Memorial Park and the antics of Service Corporation International.

Your Funeral Guy

Here is my second response

Re: Do You Ever Read The Background Information on The “News” You Pass Along?

Tue, February 2, 2010 12:59:42 PM

From:	Robert Burkhardt <yourfuneralguy@yahoo.com>  … Add to Contacts
To:	SLIVY@xxx.com

---

Calling me a hack, is slander, but there is no surprise funeral industry folks say that as i have exposed fraud in the Illinois Funeral Directors Association and NFDA leadership. Please let me know who stated that

Your Funeral Guy.

Here is Slivy Cotton’s reply

From: “SLIVY@xxx.com” <SLIVY@xxx.com>
To: yourfuneralguy@yahoo.com
Sent: Tue, February 2, 2010 1:38:57 PM
Subject: Re: Do You Ever Read The Background Information on The “News” You Pass Along

In a message dated 2/2/2010 12:15:11 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time, yourfuneralguy@yahoo.com writes:

Hello,

The memo clearly reveals grave desecrations –and that you did not think the info would go to the comptroller-although you clearly placed the blame on previous owner. There is no evidence that you revealed the problem to Law enforcement authorities. In fact what is stated is that you did not think the comptroller would find out. This is just patently false. Perhaps you read you just don’t understand what you read.

I said the attorney to whom our attorney was speaking who was a friend of the Comptroller might not might not want to report something to the Comptroller that might be unpleasant. It was our job to get to the Comptroller and that is what happened.

Show Me answer “I am not sure he would want to report anything to the Comptroller that would be unpleasant”

I am totally in my rights to my opinion on this memo posted at  the Capital Fax blog

Your opinions don’t reflect the facts.  Have you read the statements from the Comptroller’s office that confirm that I met with them; disclosed that we had found remains there and sought their advice on how to proceed. What part of that leads you to an OPINION that I was trying to cover up anything and keep anything from David Foley?

You opinion is baseless and is slander. The Memo is part of a 15 page document that lays out a plan of action and recommendations to which you obviously haven’t been privy to. Notwithstanding that the Memo you did read DOES NOT lead to your opinion.

Slivy Edmonds Cotton

I am not encouraging people to sue you- people are suing you which is all that I stated.
I apologize for spelling your name wrong.It is being Corrected.

I have reported extensively on The other Scandal Eden Memorial Park and the antics of Service Corporation International.

Your Funeral Guy

Here is my Final response

Re: Do You Ever Read The Background Information on The “News” You Pass Along

…

Tue, February 2, 2010 2:37:49 PM

From:	Robert Burkhardt <yourfuneralguy@yahoo.com>  … Add to Contacts
To:	SLIVY@xxx.com

---

Hello,
The matter clearly was not reported to law Enforcement-by you or the Comptroller’s Office.  Crimes Committed  were not reported. AS I HAVE STATED OVER AND OVER- THE COMPTROLLER IS NOT THE PROPER AUTHORITY.
THE SHERIFF WAS  NOT INFORMED.

Working through the comptroller was a cover up in itself- The comptroller had no authority in Cemetery operations.(only preneed trust funds).
This is all over the news and my blog. Whether you realize it or not the Perpetua Lawyer, had you cover up.He knew the authority of the Comptroller was limited to preneed funds.

Your Lawyer advised you to cover up 1.By Going to The Comptrollers Office 2). By Going to Foley, Dan Hynes may not have been told about it. There is no proof that comptroller investigators took the info anywhere even with a meeting.“I am not sure he would want to report anything to the Comptroller that would be unpleasant“( The investigative meeting angle has been played out before in Illinois Funeral Directors association Theft with no appropriate action or reporting to higher ups).

As far as e-mails from the comptrollers office-they are posted on my blog. They Continue on Both Burr Oak and the Illinois Funeral Directors Association. That makes me a Hack?

Like it or not you covered up.

Funeral Industry|Funeral News| Funeral blog by Your Funeral Guy