Please check back with the website in a few days, as we are continuing to upload headstones and improve the photo quality. If after checking back you are still unable to find a photo of the headstone you are looking for, you may click on the "I Can't Find A Headstone Photo" tab at the top of the page and report your concerns to the Sheriff’s Police.

Please be certain that your loved one did in fact have a gravestone marker before making a complaint. Also, keep in mind that many headstones have been overgrown with grass due to poor maintenance practices. If a photo does not appear on this site, that doesn’t necessarily indicate criminal conduct.

Some grave disturbances may be due to criminal conduct, but many more may be due to poor maintenance and neglect by the prior cemetery management. Also, many visitors to the cemetery were unable to find gravesites due to poor record keeping and missing section markers throughout the cemetery.

On July 16th, the Circuit Court of Cook County appointed Roman Szabelski as the official “Receiver” of Burr Oak. He will serve as the temporary day-to-day operations chief of the cemetery.

Mr. Szabelski has worked in the cemetery business for 40 years and is currently the executive director of Catholic Cemeteries in Chicago.

The new management team will need some time to assess the cemetery records, which were found to be in total disarray. Some records were missing, some misplaced, and others have been destroyed. Mr. Szabelski announced that he hopes to re-open in September 2009, but no firm date has been set.

We hope this “Frequently Asked Questions” posting will answer many of your concerns. But rest assured, all complaints of possible criminal conduct have been referred to Sheriff’s Police detectives for investigation. If the detectives require additional information they will contact you.

The Cook County Sheriff’s office has spent hundreds of hours examining records, scanning documents, and entering information into a computer database that will be shared with the new cemetery management team. We are working with the new cemetery management team to process this information as quickly as possible to prepare it for release to the public. Please check the Sheriff’s website, www.cookcountysheriff.org for updated information.

Due to the massive amount of requests, the poor condition of the cemetery records, and the fact that most graves at Burr Oak are unmarked, it may be weeks before family members have this information. The computerization of cemetery records will help the new management team attempt to provide these answers in the near future.

The Cook County Clerk’s Office’s Bureau of Vital Statistics maintains death records and will provide a copy upon request to relatives.

Please visit their website:
http://www.cookctyclerk.com/sub/news_view.asp?NEWS_ID=231

or call 312-603-5656 for additional information. You can also check with the funeral home that conducted the services for your deceased family members.