Police Investigating Possible Removal of Remains from Hartford Cemetery

It appears that remains have been dug up and taken from a grave in Hartford and police are investigating. 

Police said they responded to a cemetery at Waverly Street and Tower Avenue to investigate a report from groundskeeping that a grave was possibly dug up. 

They said it appears that remains were taken from the grave a few days earlier. 

The president of Agudas Achim Congregation said they were notified of the incident Wednesday morning.

Tommy Valentin, who works as a grave digger, was one of the people who found disturbed grave.

"We were walking to the cemetery to see if the tombstones are knocked down we were on that side of the field and we look this way we see a big pile of dirt. We’re the only ones that dig here so we walked over here come to find out discover there’s a hole here so somebody dug it out," he said.

Valentin said the grave was full of water and there were what appeared to be two dead chickens floating in it.

Police said the grave has been there since the 1950s. 

Leonard Holz of the Hebrew Funeral Association takes care of a nearby cemetery and said while they have seen vandalism in the past, he's never heard of anything like this.

"This is a one of a kind horrific incident," he said.

Investigators said it looks like the grave was disturbed by someone who dug by hand and that it happened three or four days ago. The person responsible could face desecration and larceny charges.

The Hartford Police Major Crimes and Crime Scene Divisions are investigating. 

No additional information was immediately available.

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