Thousands of horrified family members converged upon the cemetery, looking for answers. To some, the disruption of a loved one’s remains ripped open the wounds of grief, and survivors felt as if they were experiencing the death and loss for the first time. More than 200 families planned to file a class-action lawsuit against the cemetery’s owners. According to lead attorney Paul Shuldiner, “There’s a lot of grief, bewilderment and anger” among the families. Understandably so.

What happened at Burr Oak Cemetery?
Burr Oak is ­– or was – the final resting place of approximately 100,000 people. It is a historic cemetery, where many prominent African Americans are buried, including Emmett Till, the 14-year-old whose lynching and torture in 1955 in Mississippi helped ignite the civil rights movement, as well as blues singers Dinah Washington and Willie Dixon, boxer Ezzard Charles, and several Negro League baseball players.

Four current and former cemetery employees, including the manager, have been charged with dismemberment of human bodies, a felony that carries a sentence of 6 to 30 years in prison upon conviction. At a news conference, Dart said he suspected that “irregularities” had occurred at the cemetery for at least four years and possibly much longer. He also warned that the desecration could involve many more bodies than the original estimate of 300.

Why did they do it? Greed, according to officials, who say the accused employees resold burial plots and split the money they made, approximately $300,000. To make room for the new burials, the cemetery workers allegedly excavated some caskets and dumped human remains and headstones in an unused part of the cemetery. In other cases the workers crushed caskets into the ground and buried new ones on top of them.

Families who want to know what happened to their loved one’s remains may be in for a long and frustrating wait. Members of FBI evidence-recovery teams, some of whom worked on the 1995 Oklahoma City federal building bombing and the 9/11 crash of United Flight 93 in Pennsylvania, are sifting through evidence. According to FBI spokesman Ross Rice, it’s impossible to estimate how long the probe will take.

If there’s a hero in this story, it’s the cemetery worker, referred to as “Employee A” in court documents, who accidentally came upon evidence of the disturbed graves. Ignoring warnings from the exposed workers to keep his discovery to himself or risk losing his job, he told another coworker about what he’d seen, and that coworker reported the crime to the cemetery’s owners.

The number of people opting for cremation over traditional burial may be on the rise across the United States, but nowhere is the trend more evident than in Florida.

Since 1958, the cremation rate in North America has risen from approximately 5 percent to nearly 35 percent. According to projections by the Cremation Association of North America (CANA), cremations will lead across the country by 2025. But in Lee County, Florida alone, cremations accounted for 64 percent of final arrangements made in 2008, almost twice the number of burials and entombments combined.

Economy, ecology, and geography fuel cremation trend
In addition to the reasons commonly cited for choosing cremation – such as lower costs, environmental concerns, and religious customs, for example – Florida’s geography may also contribute to the Sunshine State’s increasing cremation rate. Funeral directors say that people who relocate to sunny coastal areas often leave behind their social networks; without friends and family nearby, traditional burial in a traditional cemetery doesn’t have the significance it might have in one’s hometown.

Florida also offers some unique alternatives for the final disposition of cremains, rather than placing a stationary cremation urn in a columbarium niche or on a library shelf. For the adventurous, Celestis, Inc., a Houston-based company, will handle cremation arrangements and send the cremated remains into space via private-industry satellites launched from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral. Water lovers and those who are looking for an environmentally friendly alternative to burial, on the other hand, can have their ashes buried in artificial coral reefs in the ocean floor.

Florida is also the original home of the Neptune Society, an organization that assists people in planning their cremations in advance. Founded in Fort Lauderdale in 1973, the Neptune Society now has offices in 45 locations throughout the country.

Baby boomers, many of whom are now retiring to Florida, also contribute to the growing support for cremation in Florida and elsewhere. According to Silvia Marchini, a sales manager for the Neptune Society in Fort Myers, boomers are “not as traditional” as their parents were.

Even as cremation gains popular acceptance as a solution to the problem of cemetery overcrowding and the harsh environmental impacts inherent in traditional burial, some say cremation doesn’t go far enough to mitigate environmental concerns.

Among the latter is an Australian engineering company that hopes to import and employ a technology known as resomation. The process uses chemicals at high temperatures to dissolve human bodies, yielding liquid remains that could be used as fertilizer, as well as a dry bone residue that could be kept in a cremation urn.

Handmade Biodegradable Box Cremation Urn

Resomation uses less energy than cremation while eliminating the need to dedicate more and more land space to burials. In resomation, bodies are dissolved in lye in stainless steel cylinders comparable to pressure cookers. Although the technology is not yet in widespread use, two U.S. universities are using resomation to dispose of cadavers donated for medical research.

In 2008, the New South Wales Department of Lands released a discussion paper on sustainable disposal of corpses, detailing the plight of Sydney’s eight Crown land cemeteries, all of which are expected to be full by 2035.

Cremation is cited in the paper as one way to ease the pressure on cemeteries; however, concerns have been raised that the release of pollutants, such as mercury from dental fillings, makes cremation a less sustainable option than many think. Proponents of resomation say the technology’s big advantage is that it relies less on fossil fuels than either burial or cremation.

Resomation rapidly decomposes bodies in a solution of water and potassium hydroxide heated to 150°C (302°F). Although the process was developed in the United States, it is not yet legal in most states; nor is it legal in the UK.

Enter Resomation Ltd, a Glasgow company that has entered into discussions with more than a dozen local authorities that are desperate to find new ways of handling their dead and interested in learning more about resomation. Because no local authority can approve resomation until the process is legalized by the national Government, however, Resomation Ltd is also lobbying members of the House of Commons.

A report in The Independent, citing an acknowledgment by justice minister Bridget Prentice, suggests those efforts might be getting somewhere. “We are… aware of the growing interest in resomation as an alternative method of disposal. In view of this interest we are giving consideration to the representations that have already been made to us and are exploring how best to engage more widely on this issue,” says Prentice.

New Solutions, Not-so-New Problem
Seven years ago, a report from the House of Commons environment committee expressed alarm about the “sheer magnitude of the problems facing our cemeteries” and called the Government’s handling of the crisis “inexcusable.” Today, experts say that half the graveyards in Greater London are already full, and the remaining capacity is being used up at the rate of 10,000 interments per year. Even with two bodies buried in each grave, the remaining space will run out quickly.

Proponents claim that legalizing resomation will not only help to alleviate the space problem, but also provide a more environmentally friendly alternative to cremation.

Some Victorian-era cemeteries in central London have already begun to turn away new burials, and many others throughout the country are nearly full. Now, from the land of those charming double-decker buses comes a revolutionary idea for dealing with the problem of cemetery overcrowding: double-decker graves.

Under the proposed plan, remains would be exhumed and re-interred in a small casket. Using a method called “lift and deepen,” remains would be buried up to three meters (approximately 10 feet) deep, with one set of remains buried on top of another Exhumation would be limited to remains more than 100 years old, and then would take place only with permission from descendants of the dead, if they can be located.

Home Office Minister Paul Goggins said the plan is likely to run into strong resistance, mainly on religious grounds, and interviewers found that visitors at one 150-year-old cemetery were indeed uneasy with the notion of reusing graves. One woman acknowledged that reusing graves to save space makes sense on a practical level; nevertheless, she found the idea to be “quite disturbing.” According to the Government, reusing graves would not only open more space for burials, but also provide income for cash-strapped cemeteries.

Plans to survey all 25,000 burial grounds in England and Wales this year for space shortages and other problems come nearly three years after Members of Parliament (MPs) recommended recycling long-forgotten graves to save historic cemeteries from decline.

About 72 percent of the 600,000 people who die in the UK each year choose cremation over burial. But MPs warn that unless the space shortage in cemeteries is resolved, most people will no longer have a choice.

In recent years, pre-need contracts have been touted by some in the funeral industry as a way for consumers to control costs. Customers who sign pre-need contracts pay their funeral costs in advance in order to lock in current prices for funeral goods and services that are likely to escalate in the coming years.

Problems with pre-need contracts
While the terms of pre-need contracts can vary from one funeral home to another, the basics are the same: a person chooses a casket or cremation urn and any services he or she wants and then pays for the package either in a lump sum or in monthly installments. If the pre-need contract is paid in full at the time of death, the family won’t have to concern themselves with making funeral arrangements or scrambling to find a way to pay for them.

In some states, funeral homes or third-party sellers of pre-need contracts are allowed to take a percentage of the money up front for commissions and expenses, as well as the interest that accrues on the money paid by the consumer.

Unfortunately, there have been reports of problems with pre-need contracts from many states, from cheap, imported caskets that fail to meet the quality the consumer paid for, to a disturbing rise in funeral home fraud and mismanagement complaints. Some consumers have been unable to recover the money they prepaid after they cancel a pre-need contract, and some families have been forced to pay thousands of dollars more for funerals than the contract stipulated. In the most blatant cases of fraud, some funeral directors have essentially stolen the money from prepaid contracts and used it for their own purposes.

Another problem with pre-need funeral contracts is the fact that they’re not portable, but rather require the consumer to use the services of the funeral home that issued the contract – a significant downside in today’s mobile society.

Pre-planning makes sense
Pre-planning is another matter, however. The major difference between pre-planning and pre-need contracts is that pre-planning doesn’t require any money to change hands. For individuals who want to make sure their desires are carried out when they die and don’t wish to burden their families with worries about funeral services, caskets, burial or cremation and the like at a time when family members are likely to be overcome by grief, pre-planning may be the way to go.

Another reason we think that pre-planning makes more sense than a pre-need contract is the fact that people change their minds. If you sign a contract designating a certain type of casket and a cemetery where you wish to be buried, for example, and then later decide you’d prefer to be cremated and have some of your ashes scattered and the rest retained in a cremation urn, it’s much easier to change your plan than to amend your contract or get a refund. The same is true if you wish to add new services not considered in your contract, such as a green funeral or the use of technology to webcast your funeral.

Bottom line
Pre-planning your funeral can mean peace of mind for yourself and your family, but when it comes to paying for the arrangements, we recommend using the proceeds from life insurance or setting up a special account to save for your final expenses.

More than a records archive
Launched in November 2008, Names in Stone is an online repository of cemetery records. But while the ability to access burial records online is nothing new, Names in Stone goes a step further by providing actual burial maps – a real boon to historians, researchers and genealogists trying to locate and document burial information.

The site’s searchable database allows online visitors to view photographs and see the precise location of a gravesite as well as the names on adjoining cemetery plots, according to David Day, president of Names in Stone. In addition, researching burial records online gives users access to information that may or may not be recorded on a headstone, such as birth or death dates and names of parents, without having to deal with the logistics and costs of traveling to the actual locations.

Accessible public information
Cemetery mapping capabilities are provided by Spatial Generations, a software product of Gateway Mapping, Inc., an Orem, Utah company. Currently, approximately 100 cemeteries across the country are included in the Names in Stone database, most of them in Utah. Users are encouraged to contribute by inviting local cemeteries to participate, using online mapping tools to add smaller cemeteries with 200 or fewer plots, and sharing photos and other relevant information with the online community. Although burial information is a matter of public record, Names in Stone adheres to a policy of obtaining authorization from individual cemeteries to publish their records

The ability of users to find burial information and locations online is welcomed by cemetery staffs, for whom it will save many hours of research. In cooperation with Teleflora, a national floral delivery service, Names in Stone even allows visitors to order flowers online for delivery to the gravesite of a family member.

“Conventional cemetery Web sites provide an alphabetical listing of burials,” says Day. “Names in Stone shows you where someone is buried.”

In Santa Coloma de Gramenet, a city just outside Barcelona, a glittering expanse of 462 solar panels have turned the local cemetery into a source of light. Santa Coloma has converted its municipal graveyard into a power plant with a capacity of 100 kilowatts, enough to meet the energy needs of 60 families.

Esteve Serret is the director of Conste, the company that manages Santa Coloma’s cemetery. While working among the graves one day, Serret was struck by the idea that the location had tremendous potential as a source for renewable energy. In Serret’s words: “To produce solar energy you need a wide open space, and in Santa Coloma, the biggest open space is the cemetery.”

With a commitment of $935,000 in funding from Conste and the power company Endesa to cover installation costs, Serret convinced the Santa Coloma city government to allow construction of the solar panels in the cemetery. With great care to preserve the character and serenity of the graveyard, the project met little opposition.

Energy Initiative Meets Glowing Response
Response to the experiment at Santa Coloma has, in fact, been so positive that the cemetery may come to be seen as a trendsetter. Barcelona and other cities throughout Spain have already begun to inquire about the city’s venture into the energy business, and according to Santa Coloma City Council member Begoña Bellete, the city is setting a prime example of acting locally to affect global change. “In a city like this one, which is working-class, has a high immigrant population, and plenty of problems, it’s nice to be a reference for something positive,” says Bellete.

Indeed. If each of Spain’s 8,000 cities employed the technology in their own cemeteries, the energy generated could potentially reach 800,000 kilowatts.

Sen. Jacobsen (who wants to be buried with his deceased cat Sam when the time comes), pointed out that the practice of burying humans with their pets is an ancient tradition dating to the Egyptian pharaohs. In Jacobsen’s view, the state has no business getting between him and Sam. “I’m tired of the nanny state worrying about me and my cat,” he said. “I assume there’s a lot of people out there with pets who understand the connection.”

Concessions and Restrictions Couldn’t Save Bill
SB 5063 would have allowed (but not required) cemeteries, upon written request, to bury human owners with their cremated pets. The pet’s remains could be placed in the burial plot before, after, or at the time of the owner’s passing.

Several concessions and restrictions were written into the bill. For example, an earlier version didn’t require that the pet be cremated and would have forced cemeteries to allow animals to be interred with their owners. In its final form, the bill limited allowable pets to cats and dogs and required that pet and owner be buried in the same plot.

Many cemetery owners opposed the legislation on the grounds that burying humans and animals together would violate the customs and traditions of some cultures and religions. According to Paul Elvig, former president of the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association, “The ultimate insult to a Muslim would be to bury a dog or a cat near or around a [human] burial grounds,” he said. Other cemetery owners worried about potential lost revenues if they agreed to bury humans and pets together.

Support Wasn’t Enough
As Jacobsen observed when he introduced the bill in January, nobody in the Legislature took the bill seriously. The idea did receive the support of People for Ethical Treatment of Animals, however, and Jacobsen received several emails from pet owners and families of deceased pet owners who wrote about their desire to be buried with their pets. In the end, the bill lacked the support to get to a vote.

With the demise of SB 5063, Florida remains the only state with an existing law allowing people to be interred with their deceased pets.

Even the most exclusive cemeteries offer affordable basic plots, with prices starting as low as $1,500, compared to the average cost of a burial plot in the U.S. (currently around $1,000). True, the cost of a private mausoleum can soar upwards of $1.5 million in the high-rent district, but in between there are many plots whose prices are well within reach.

Get to Know Your Neighbors
When you’re considering where you want to spend eternity, it helps to know who your neighbors will be. Following are some of the most expensive cemeteries in America and some of their noteworthy residents, according to Forbes magazine:

• Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills, California  – Stan Laurel, Lucille Ball, Gene Autry, Bette Davis, Liberace and John Ritter.
• Glenwood Cemetery in Houston, TX – Actress Gene Tierney, naturalist and author Royal Dixon, Texaco founder Joseph Cullinan and other Texas oilmen.
• Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park in Dallas, TX – Mickey Mantle, Tom Landry, U.S. Senator John Tower, and oilman H.L. Hunt.
• Woodlawn Cemetery in Bronx, NY – Irving Berlin, George M. Cohan, Miles Davis and F.W. Woolworth.
• Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, NY – Danny Kaye, Tommy Dorsey, and Lou Gehrig.
• Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY – Leonard Bernstein, Joey Gallo, Albert Anastasia and other prominent mob figures.
• Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, MA – Oliver Wendell Holmes and Henry Cabot Lodge.

And there’s an added bonus when you choose a plot in one of these burial grounds: you don’t have to worry about the neighborhood deteriorating. Even in recessionary times, owners of plots in prestigious cemeteries are more inclined to hold onto their property rather than sell it for some quick cash.