Graves found desecrated at cemetery

MIAMI (WSVN) -- Graves at a South Florida cemetery were found desecrated and loved ones are concerned.

Renita Holmes found a baby's above-ground grave broken at the corner with a hole just big enough to steal its small skull. "They took the skull of a baby away, sacrilegious to us," said Holmes.

Brownsville's historic and overcrowded Lincoln Memorial Cemetery, adult graves were freshly ravaged last week after, residents believe, someone broken into them for religious ceremonies. "I'm not against anyone's culture, but I don't want anyone to be sacrilegious to mine," said Holmes. "It's robbery. These are remains, this is the resting place of people who have paid for plot and property."

Horrace Roberts has a personal connection to those that have been laid to rest in caskets that are now crumbled and stacked on top of each other. "My grandfather is buried by that first tree there," said Roberts. "I think mostly children's graves are the ones that have been hit more than anything else."

The privately owned cemetery hosts some of Miami-Dade's most prominent deceased, including Dana Dorsey, Miami's first black millionaire. But that hasn't kept the gravesites safe from anonymous criminals cracking into caskets, stealing body parts.

Family members think the bones are being used for Santeria rituals.

In February, a 9-month-old's body was stolen and chicken bones were found on the ground next to it. "You don't see this happen out at the other major cemeteries, but it happens here, been happening for years," said Horrace Jones.

Police haven't been able to catch anyone in the act. They continue to investigate.

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