Family 'Shocked' By Theft Of Remains From Worcester Cemetery
WORCESTER (CBS) – Bob Doezema is feeling a pain that's hard to imagine.
His grandfather's final resting place has been violated, brutally disturbed, when a Worcester mausoleum was robbed.
In total, the remains of five of his relatives were stolen.
They were all members of one of Worcester's grand families, the Houghtons. Now they are not resting in peace.
"I was just shocked and it was very disturbing" says Doezema. "And when we heard the reports that someone had taken the remains of our family members and used them I think on an altar for religious ceremonies, it really just sort of made your... it was saddening but more disturbing"
Police have charged Amador Medina in connection with the bizarre crime. Medina says he is a Santeria priest.
One skeleton found at his Hartford apartment apparently was still dressed in the clothes the deceased was buried in.
Doezema says the mausoleum was ransacked.
"Apparently there is a lot of damage," Doezema said. "There were marble covers to the areas where the caskets and bodies were laid to rest and so they had to be smashed and damaged and the caskets had to be removed and opened."
In all, nine adults and two children were interred in this mausoleum, including Doezema's grandfather, a Harvard grad who fought in World War I. Also in the mausoleum was his great grandfather Charles Chandler Houghton.
The family's main focus is returning the remains to their resting place in a dignified way, and repairing the mausoleum.