Graveyard body thefts mystify officials in Puerto Rico
Religious sect or steel scavengers suspected after 40 grave sites raided in a mountainous area
The remains of at least 40 people are missing from a cemetery in the mountain town of Gurabo, where officials are trying to solve a mystery that has frightened neighbours and left families distraught.
The apparent thefts occurred at the town's oldest cemetery, which was opened in 1912 and features rows of white mausoleums located on the outskirts of Gurabo.
No one has been able to explain the disappearances, although many residents believe the bones are being stolen for Santeria rituals, practiced by those who follow the Caribbean-based religion that blends Catholicism and the African Yoruba faith.
Roman acknowledged that possibility, as well as a hypothesis that thieves are snatching boxes made of steel that hold the bones to sell them on the black market. However, he said no bones had been left behind.
Government authorities made the discovery last month when they tried to exhume several remains to move them to another cemetery, only to find they were gone.
Since then, Roman has asked the owners of more than 300 mausoleums to verify if their loved ones were still buried at the cemetery.
Amparo Diaz Santana, 70, said the bodies of two of her nephews were missing.
"When we opened the tomb, they weren't there," she said. "We kept looking, and noticed there were a bunch of other open tombs."
Her family filed a report with police, but no one has been arrested and it seems authorities have no leads.
Roman said there were three full-time employees at the cemetery during the day, but no one oversaw it at night. Finding security guards had been a problem, he said.
Roman said police agreed to drive by the cemetery at night as a preventive measure. Police investigating the case could not be immediately reached for comment.
Arlene Gonzalez, a Santeria priest, with the Templo Yoruba of Puerto Rico, denied people associated with the faith were to blame. She said the faith used animals, but not human bodies, in its rituals.
She said the disappearance of the remains could be related to Paleria, another faith that uses human bones in its rites.
Relatives have been devastated by the loss of loved ones' remains.
