‘The coffin was open’: Gravesite ‘disturbed’ at historic cemetery in Miami, police say
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Miami police officers were summoned to the city’s oldest cemetery over the weekend after a volunteer found an open coffin — and a piece of bone next to it.
The historic Miami City Cemetery, located at 1800 NE Second Ave. in the Edgewater neighborhood, contains the graves of various local pioneers including “Mother of Miami” Julia Tuttle, a businesswoman who in the 19th century owned much of the land where the city is today.
The gruesome discovery was made around 12:30 p.m. Sunday while the volunteer was cleaning, according to a police report, which noted that a piece of bone was spotted on the ground adjacent to the exposed casket.
“The gravesite had the stone cover removed from on top, exposing the coffin,” the report says. “The coffin was open and there was a prying tool laying next to it.”
Authorities didn’t reveal to whom the gravesite belongs nor whether any remains were missing.
The crime was first reported by WPLG Local 10 News.
“Detectives are investigating and canvassing for surveillance cameras in the area that may have captured the incident,” a police spokesperson told the Miami Herald on Monday.
District 2 City Commissioner Sabina Covo, who represents a strip of coastal communities that includes Edgewater, said Monday via Twitter that the cemetery was “desecrated.”
“The oldest cemetery in Miami was vandalized and desecrated yesterday,” she said. “A historical land that should be more guarded and that must be saved and preserved.”
The oldest cemetery in Miami was vandalized and desecrated yesterday. A historical land that should be more guarded and that must be saved and preserved.
Thank you to @MiamiDadePD and @miamiparks for the work they’re doing to identify the vandals and bring them to swift justice.— Sabina Covo (@SabinaCovo) March 13, 2023
Miami City Cemetery also holds graves of other prominent figures such as Richard E. S. Toomey, Miami’s first Black attorney; Dr. James Jackson, the city’s first physician; Jack Tigertail, the first Native American buried there; and Theodore Gibson — one of the most important local leaders in the Civil Rights Movement during the 1950s and 1960s. More than 9,000 people are interred in the cemetery, the Miami New Times reported in 2020.
The city’s Parks and Recreation Department didn’t immediately respond to the Herald’s request for comment Tuesday afternoon.
