Class finds make-shift gravesite
By Kim Puckett | News Editor
Groups of University of Indianapolis students from an ecology class, taught by Dr. Roger Sweets, were examining headstones on Oct. 8, when one student came across something unexpected.
The Biology 265 class was on a routine trip to Southport Cemetery near Bethel Memorial Church in order to do an exercise in demography, the study of births, deaths and marriages of a population when senior Ashlee McIntosh discovered the crude grave of a six-to-10 month old fetus in the 100-year-old gravesite.
“My group was working by a wooded area, writing down birth and death dates, and we were at the last gravesite in the row,” McIntosh said. “The grave was obviously freshly dug, with clean moist dirt on the top.”
The group of students then noticed a rock placed on the top of the dirt.
“We turned the flat rock over and on the back it said ‘Baby Wheeler, September 3, 2008’ written in black Sharpie marker,” McIntosh said.students immediately notified their professor. After informing a member of the nearby church, Sweets contacted the police.
“We didn’t want to disturb the grave at first,” Sweets said. “It could have been a crime scene, so we left it up to the authorities.”
According to Sweets, once the coroner was notified of the find, Dr.. Stephen Nawrocki, UIndy professor of anthropology and biology, was asked to excavate the grave. Nawrocki discovered a homemade wooden coffin containing the fetus wrapped in cloth buried just nine inches into the ground. Nawrocki was unavailable for comment due to the ongoing investigation.
According to Sweets and his students, the class has been affected by the event, and has tried to stay up-to-date on the investigation.
“We are all shocked and saddened by this find,” Sweets said. “The extreme that these parents must have been pushed to is
unimaginable.”
Sweets also expressed his distaste for the local media disclosing the last name found on the makeshift gravestone.
“I just think it was unfair of them to release the name,” Sweets said.
The Marion County Coroner’s Office and the Southport Police Department are currently investigating the case and are asking the people responsible to come forward.
After making their discovery, the students immediately notified their professor. After informing a member of the nearby church, Sweets contacted the police.
“We didn’t want to disturb the grave at first,” Sweets said. “It could have been a crime scene, so we left it up to the authorities.”
According to Sweets, once the coroner was notified of the find, Dr.. Stephen Nawrocki, UIndy professor of anthropology and biology, was asked to excavate the grave. Nawrocki discovered a homemade wooden coffin containing the fetus wrapped in cloth buried just nine inches into the ground. Nawrocki was unavailable for comment due to the ongoing investigation.
According to Sweets and his students, the class has been affected by the event, and has tried to stay up-to-date on the investigation.
“We are all shocked and saddened by this find,” Sweets said. “The extreme that these parents must have been pushed to is unimaginable.”
Sweets also expressed his distaste for the local media disclosing the last name found on the makeshift gravestone.
“I just think it was unfair of them to release the name,” Sweets said.
The Marion County Coroner’s Office and the Southport Police Department are currently investigating the case and are asking the people responsible to come forward.
