A gravedigger in West Virginia has been arrested and charged with desecrating an infant’s grave after allegedly disturbing the child’s remains and leaving the corpse exposed at the cemetery where he worked.
Matthew Fortner, 49, was arrested on Wednesday by the Cabell County Sheriff’s Office and booked on charges of displacement of a dead body and intentionally withholding information about the disturbance of “human, skeletal remains.”
Online court records show he has pleaded not guilty and has a bond set at $5,000 for the incident, which occurred on March 27.
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The disturbing discovery was made by individuals visiting Baylous Cemetery in Salt Rock to decorate graves for Easter.
According to the outlet, “When the remains were discovered in the cemetery, both the right arm and right foot had been removed by unknown means.”
Cabell County Sheriff Doug Adams told WCHS that his office was deeply troubled by the incident and worked “tirelessly” to investigate. “It’s bothered them and weighed on everyone’s minds,” Adams said.
Initially, investigators were unsure whether the baby’s remains had been brought to the cemetery or if the grave had been disturbed.
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“We scoured that entire cemetery,” Adams said. “Looking to see if there were any graves that had been disturbed and we couldn’t find any. So [we were] wondering if that child was buried in that cemetery or if it was brought from somewhere else.”
According to WCHS, the investigation revealed that the baby, who died a few days after birth, was buried in 1982 next to a plot that Fortner was digging up for another burial. The complaint alleges that Fortner chose to dump the child’s remains over a hillside near the grave site instead of reburying them. The baby’s casket was also allegedly broken by Fortner.
“It takes a sick individual, in my opinion, to desecrate a grave and mess with a corpse, period,” Sheriff Adams said.
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