Unearthed caskets hold mystery bodies
Archaeologists found human remains inside some of the caskets that surfaced this week because of erosion along the eastern bank of Alum Creek in Delaware County, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said yesterday.
Four of the five unearthed caskets contained bones, but their identities are a mystery because no headstones or markers were found at the excavation site, said Aaron Smith, an archaeologist with the Corps' Huntington District.
The remains were buried at least 50 years ago in what was once Cheshire Cemetery, but they apparently were left behind when the Alum Creek Dam was built in 1973 and the cemetery was relocated.
Remnants of pine boxes that lined the graves were exposed along the reservoir's shoreline, Smith said. The caskets will remain intact during the Corps' investigation out of respect for the deceased and their families. "We're not opening them up entirely."
The Corps already has contracted with DeVore-Snyder Funeral Home, which is authorized to move the remains, Corps officials said.
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Four of the five unearthed caskets contained bones, but their identities are a mystery because no headstones or markers were found at the excavation site, said Aaron Smith, an archaeologist with the Corps' Huntington District.
The remains were buried at least 50 years ago in what was once Cheshire Cemetery, but they apparently were left behind when the Alum Creek Dam was built in 1973 and the cemetery was relocated.
Remnants of pine boxes that lined the graves were exposed along the reservoir's shoreline, Smith said. The caskets will remain intact during the Corps' investigation out of respect for the deceased and their families. "We're not opening them up entirely."
The Corps already has contracted with DeVore-Snyder Funeral Home, which is authorized to move the remains, Corps officials said.