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Police Confused By Body-Stealing Grave Robbers
By
Ben Yakas
Published Aug 26, 2010
Modified Aug 26, 2010
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Aug 26, 2010
Modified Aug 26, 2010
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A family is devastated and police are utterly confused after grave robbers broke into a mausoleum, stealing the remains of a woman who died 12 years ago. Suffolk County police say Mattia Filippazzo's body was removed from St. Charles Cemetery in East Farmingdale, L.I.—while her husband's body was left in the crypt—between Monday night and Tuesday morning. "They took her and not him? I don't understand anything," the Filippazzos' daughter-in-law, Louise, said to the Daily News, cursing the thieves in Italian.
Mattia, the mother of eight, died in 1998 at age 87 and was buried with her husband Stefano, who had died nearly a decade earlier. Police believe the thieves came armed with pry-bars and hammers, breaking into three mausoleums but only carrying one casket outside. Then they pried the casket open and carried the body away separately. Police, who don't believe the thieves were specifically targeting the Filippazzos, have no leads currently. Their daughter-in-law said, "I can't believe they would do such a horrible thing. It's despicable. It's sick."
The family is now offering a $30,000 reward for the return of Mattia Filippazzo's body.
Tagged
body
cemetery
grave robbers
mausoleum
thieves
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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