Cemetery visitor Michelle Sargent said, "My parents are over there in the corner. Seeing if, just to come and check, they were fine," she said.
Evidence suggests that whoever stole the remains did not act alone and there appears to be a group of people who are stealing human remains for religious purposes, police said.
Thirty-two-year-old Amador Medina was arrested in Hartford. He practices Santeria, which commonly uses animal remains in religious ceremonies, police say. Officers found five human remains in his apartment, three adults and two children, one as young as 15 days old, taken from a mausoleum named Houghton. Those remains are from nearly 70 years ago.
Gemme said they are contacting other police departments, encouraging them to reach out to their local cemeteries.
FOX25 did a Facetime interview with Hartford Deputy Chief Brian Foley, who said candles were "being used in some of the shrines. Some of the bones as well. A lot of sticks branches and that sort of thing"
Police are trying to get in touch with relatives from the latest theft. They don't know where the remains are now, but FOX25 has learned that they are looking for several people.
