Dec. 05--Eighteen unfinished wooden boxes containing the remains of some of Cook County's unidentified dead sat single file along the eastern edge of Mount Olivet Catholic Cemetery in the Far Southwest Side neighborhood of Kennedy Park.
Nearby, caskets containing the bodies of more than 40 unborn children were also awaiting burial as Archbishop Blase Cupich and county officials made their way into the cemetery.
When dead bodies are found in Cook County, medical examiners try to identify them using DNA databases, fingerprints and dental records. But in the case of the 18 adults whose remains were buried Thursday afternoon, no match could be made.
Laying to rest the bodies of the unknown presents a challenge for the county, because the remains could be useful as evidence in future investigations and there's always the possibility that a body could be matched to a missing persons case. For that reason, the unidentified dead are always buried, never cremated, said Chief Medical Examiner Stephen Cina.
While the county has at times designated burial plots throughout the city, no current contract exists, said Frank Shuftan, a spokesman for the Bureau of Administration. Catholic Cemeteries in the Archdiocese of Chicago offered the burial plots, which will be unmarked, for about $4,000, Shuftan said. The unborn children -- fetuses of less than 20 weeks gestation whose remains the parents do not want to claim -- were buried free of charge, he said.
"The names of those buried today are unknown, despite best efforts to determine their identities," Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said during the brief service. "Thus, we become their family, and it falls on us to see them off in a dignified and respectful manner."
As Cupich delivered a prayer, funeral directors of the 22 funeral homes that had volunteered their time and resources to transport the remains to the cemetery stood beside the caskets. The service closed with the funeral directors each laying a single rose on the casket they had transported. Cupich laid his rose atop a casket containing remains of the unborn.
It was Cupich's first committal service for Chicago's unidentified dead, a service other religious leaders have done in the past. He assumed the helm of the archdiocese last month.
Cupich said he hoped the service would "give those who feel alone in life a sense of confidence that, by this action, we have a commitment both in the church as well as in the wider society, to not leave anybody behind."
kgeiger@tribune.com
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