Grave Robbers Strike Cemetery Again, Steal Baby's Bones
BROWNSVILLE, Fla. (CBSMiami) — The most despicable of their kind of criminal, grave robbers have struck a Miami-Dade cemetery yet again.
Earlier this month, two graves were desecrated at Brownsville's Lincoln Memorial Cemetery. A baby's skull was taken.
Citing 38-year-old cemetery caretaker Jessica Williams, CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald reports the grave robbers have struck again, breaking into two more graves looking for more bones.
Williams, the niece of cemetery owner Elyn Johnson, 83, said that while management filed a police report, the officers aren't doing much to help.
A Miami-Dade police spokesman had no immediate comment.
The Aug. 2 break-ins follow similar crimes in February, when grave robbers opened seven above-ground tombs looking for bones to use in rituals, Williams said.
"We're struggling to do the best we can to serve the community," said Williams, who oversees more than 1,500 above-ground tombs most of which are stacked so close that you need to climb over tombs to reach a loved one.
Williams concedes that many plots at the multi-acre site located at 3001 NW 46th St. are covered with weeds and have been damaged by the elements and neglect. But the worst destruction, she says, has come from man.
"They took the skull off another baby," said Williams, who thinks the robbers simply hop the small fence and use the cover of night to commit the crimes.
Williams said that most of the tombs are above ground which makes them more vulnerable than graves.
Nearby, an adult's tomb was badly damaged, but thieves were not able to pry open the vault inside.
"I have two relatives buried here but have no idea where they're at," said neighborhood activist Renita Holmes, who wanted to check on a relative over the weekend.
Lincoln is the final resting place of many Miami black pioneers including D.A. Dorsey, Miami's first black millionaire; the Rev. John Culmer, rector of the historic St. Agnes Episcopal Church in Overtown; and Dr. William Sawyer, Miami-Dade County's first black physician.
"We need to protect our ancestors because this is our history," said Williams. "This has to stop."
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