Bones of Contention and Disappearing Bodies

“Rest in Peace” - it’s more than comforting words said at a funeral. The phrase expresses a desire for the deceased to be granted eternal repose and tranquility; calmness after life’s hectic journey. But there are some who had a rough road to travel, even after death...

Thomas Paine - "These are the times that try men's souls."

Thomas Paine

Thomas Paine was a well known political activist, revolutionary and author of several pro-revolutionary pamphlets.

Paine left England for the U.S. in 1774. On January 10, 1776, he published one of his best-known works, Common Sense.  The pamphlet was an immediate success and sold over half a million copies during the Revolutionary War. Paine later moved to Paris and was an ardent supporter of the French Revolution.

Paine's Farm

He returned to the U.S in 1803 and lived out his life an outcast due to his attitude toward organized religion. Paine died on June 8, 1809 in New York. In his obituary it was written, "He had lived long, did some good and much harm." Paine was buried under a tree on his small farm with six mourners in attendance.

William Cobbett

In September 1819, Paine’s body was dug up and shipped to England by English journalist and pamphleteer, William Cobbett. Cobbett hoped to build a monument to Paine where his body could rest in honor, but ran out of money before project was completed. Paine’s body remained in a trunk in the attic for over 20 years, until Cobbett died in June 1835.

 

It is not known what happened to Paine’s body – it simply disappeared. It was rumored that the bones were made into buttons but that was never proven.

The “Trophy” Bushman of Banyoles – El Negro

In the early 1830s, a French taxidermist, Edmund Verreaux stuffed, preserved and mounted the body of an African San male found in the Kalahari Desert. Verreaux then took the body on tour through Europe during the 1830’s.

Bushman

In 1916, the bushman’s mummified body was acquired by the Darder Museum of Banyoles, Spain and given the name El Negro. The mummy was polished a darker color and placed on display. It remained there until March 1997.

In 2000, the remains were sent to a museum in Madrid where the artificial spine, eyes, hair, and genitals were removed before the skull and bones were placed in a coffin and returned to Botswana. There the bushman was finally given a dignified burial in a national park.

Charlie Chaplin – The Little Tramp

He was known as “The Little Tramp,” but Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin was more than a silent film star. He was also a filmmaker and composer. Chaplin died on Christmas Day, 1977 at the age of 88 and was buried in the Vevey Cemetery, in the village of Corsier, Switzerland.

Oona Chaplin

But in March 1978 two men dug up the grave and stole the body.

Chaplin’s widow, Lady Oona Chaplin received a ransom note demanding £400,000 ($650,000 US), which she refused to pay stating, “Charlie would have thought it ridiculous.”

Chaplin's Casket

Chaplin's Grave

Eleven weeks later police arrested two auto mechanics, Roman Wardas and Gantscho Ganev, after they had made another phone call to Chaplin’s widow. The two led police to Chaplin’s body buried in a cornfield about 10 miles from his original resting place. Wardas, the ringleader, was sentenced to 4 years in jail, while Ganev was given an 18-month suspended sentence.

Chaplin was reburied in same grave, but this time his coffin was enclosed in reinforced concrete.

Abraham Lincoln – 16^th President

Abraham Lincoln

When Lincoln was assassinated in April of 1865, the Civil War was drawing to a close, and most of the country was ready for peace. But with news of the President’s murder, thousands lined the nation’s railroad tracks to pay their respects, and watch the funeral train pass by.

After stops in 12 cities to allow over 5 million people to view the body, Lincoln was interred in a tomb at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois. But he did not rest in peace.

Terrence Mullen - Gang Member

Jack Hughes - Gang Member

In 1876, a band of counterfeiters attempted to steal his body. The plan was to take Lincoln’s remains and hide them in the sand dunes of northern Indiana until a ransom of $200,000 was paid.  The gang was also going to demand the release of one of their members from prison.

A police informant, who had infiltrated the group, alerted the secret service of the plan. Although the grave robbers got away, they were rounded up a few days later, tried, and sentenced to one year in the Illinois State Prison.

Lincoln's Tomb

Lincoln was reburied in the mausoleum, but it was his son, Robert Todd Lincoln who could not rest easy now. In 1901, he had the remains disinterred and placed inside a steel cage that was buried 10 feet beneath the floor of the tomb.  The cage was then encased in 4,000 pounds of concrete so it could never be opened again.

Elvis Presley Has Left the (Mausoleum) Building

Elvis Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20^th century. When he died in August 1977, the world mourned. Presley was buried in the family mausoleum next to his mother, in Forest Hill Cemetery, Memphis Tennessee.

But a couple of weeks after his burial, Ronnie Tyler,
Raymond Green, and Bruce Nelson decided to steal the body. Possibly seeking media coverage, they informed a local reporter about their intended heist. The police were notified and were waiting at the mausoleum, where they arrested the three men. All were charged with criminal trespass but the case was dismissed.

Elvis's Grave

Elvis’s coffin was removed from the family mausoleum, along with his mother's. Both are now interred in the Meditation Garden at Graceland, Presley’s home in Memphis.

Gram Parsons – “Dim Lights, Thick Smoke, and Loud, Loud Music”

Gram Parsons

He was born Cecil Ingram Conner III but professionally went by the name of Gram Parsons. Born in 1946, Parsons was a pioneer of the country/rock music genre.  He was the founder of the International Submarine Band, and a member of the Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers bands, before touring with Emmylou Harris.

Joshua Tree National Park

On September 19, 1973, Parsons died of a massive drug overdose. His family arranged for the body to be sent home to Louisiana for burial, but Parsons' manager and friend, Phil Kaufman had made a pact with him. Whoever died first was to take the other’s remains out to Joshua Tree National Park and cremate him.

Phil Kaufman with Gram Parsons

Kaufman held to his end of the bargain, arriving at L.A. International Airport to intercept the coffin before it was put on-board a plane. Kaufman and a friend then drove Parsons' body to the park, doused it with gasoline and set it ablaze. A few days later, both men were taken into custody. However, there was no law against stealing a body, so both men were fined $750 for stealing the casket and released.

Parson's Grave

Parsons' remains were eventually sent to Louisiana where he was buried in the Garden of Memories in Metairie.

And, there are many more unusual tales of "traveling" bodies after death, proving that you just never know what will happen next - even after you die ...

~ Joy

Grave Robbery of the Famous

Grave Robbers

Ransom Note

Grave robbing, also known as tomb raiding, is when a grave or tomb is opened for the purpose of stealing artifacts or personal objects buried with the deceased.  And, there are times, when the grave is robbed for the actual remains, usually to demand and collect a ransom with.

Alexander T Stewart

St. Mark's

In April 1876, the body of one of the richest men in New York was stolen.  Multi-millionaire Alexander Turney Stewart’s body was stolen from his crypt, just three weeks after his interment at St. Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery in New York City.

Personal Ads

For two years, the grave robber, who went by the name Romaine, communicated with the Stewart family’s liaison though obscure personal ads placed in the New York Herald.

Ransom

Terms were finally agreed upon and the ransom amount was set at $20,000.  At an undisclosed location, the body was exchanged for the specified ransom amount.  No one was ever apprehended for the grave robbery.   

Episcopal Cathedral of the Incarnation

A positive identification of the body was never made, but the returned remains were entombed in a new vault in the Episcopal Cathedral of the Incarnation in Garden City, Long Island.

President Lincoln in his Coffin

There was an attempt to steal President Abraham Lincoln’s body in 1876 and hold it for ransom.  Members of a counterfeiter's gang attempted to steal Lincoln’s body from his tomb at Oak Ridge Cemetery on November 7, 1876.  The plan was to take Lincoln’s remains and hide them in the sand dunes of northern Indiana until a ransom of $200,000 was paid.  The gang was also going to demand the release of one of their members from prison.

State Prison at Joliet, Illinois

Lincoln's Tomb

However, a police informant who had infiltrated the gang let the secret service know of the plan. Eight detectives rushed the tomb that night, but the grave robbers got away.  All were arrested within a few days and convicted of attempted grave robbing.  All were given a sentence of one year in the Illinois State Prison at Joliet.

Inside Lincoln's Tomb

Lincoln was reburied in his mausoleum, but reportedly not in the casket.  In 1901, Robert Todd Lincoln had his father’s remains disinterred and placed inside a steel cage that was buried 10 feet beneath the floor of his tomb.  The cage was then encased in 4,000 pounds of concrete so that it could not be opened again.

 

Charlie Chaplin

Chaplin's Grave

Two grave robbers took the coffin of silent film star, Charlie Chaplin, just months after his death.  Chaplin had died on Christmas day, 1977, and was buried in the Vevey Cemetery in the village of Corsier, Switzerland. 

Robbing a Grave

The grave robbers dug up his casket in March 1978, and sent a photo of the coffin to Chaplin’s widow along with a demand for £400,000 ($650,000 US.)  Oona Chaplin refused to pay.  The robbers then threatened Chaplin’s youngest children.

Officials caught the two men after an intense surveillance operation in May. Roman Wardas was sentenced to 4 and a half years in prison. Accomplice Gantcho Ganev received a suspended sentence.

Chaplin's Coffin

Police located Chaplin’s coffin buried in a nearby cornfield.  Chaplin was reburied in his grave– under several feet of reinforced concrete.

Presley's Funeral

Elvis Presley

Just days after the death of Elvis Presley, there were rumors that a group of men planned to steal his body, and hold it for a ransom of $10-million.  Presley had been buried next to his mother in a mausoleum at Forest Hill Cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee.

Graceland

Presley's Grave

Police confronted three men they found hanging around the Presley Mausoleum after dark. Since they had no tools with them, officials let them go. Elvis’s grave, along with his mothers, was moved to the Meditation Garden at Graceland, Presley’s home.  The graves are now monitored by security 24-hours a day.

Whitney Houston

Houston's Casket

After the death of Whitney Houston in February 2012, round-the-clock armed security guards were placed at her grave.  Houston was reportedly buried wearing over half-a-million dollars worth of jewelry and clothing.  Her casket was said to be gold-lined and worth tens of thousands of dollars.

Fairview Cemetery

The Fairview Cemetery, in Westfield, New Jersey was closed to all but lot owners after Houston’s burial. Officials attempted to limit the crowds and keep security in place.  One year later, Houston's grave is guarded 24 hours a day by foot patrol, and there is talk of encasing her casket in concrete.

Johann Strauss

Johannes Brahms

And the latest case of grave robbing involves a Slovak man, who claimed last summer that he had robbed the graves of classical composers Johann Strauss and Johannes Brahms – of their teeth. Ondrej Jajcaj supposedly dug up both graves in the Viennese Central Cemetery to get teeth from each of the composers in order to start a museum. He claims to have robbed other hundreds of other graves of skulls and personal effects to also put in his museum.

Strauss' Grave

Brahms' Grave

Austrian police began investigating the claims last May and discovered that indeed, the teeth had been removed from the musicians. If convicted, Jajcaj could face 6 months to ten years in prison.

Although you might assume that grave robbing doesn't happen much anymore, it appears that it is still something to be concerned about - even in the highly electronic world of the 21^st Century.

~ Joy