By Samantha Simon
[email protected]
New Winthorpes Cemetery was the scene of a sombre burial yesterday, with six unclaimed bodies being laid to rest in a communal grave.
Among the bodies was that of 16-year-old Dequan Cummins, whose father waited 11 months to receive DNA results confirming that remains found in the rubble of their Nut Grove home after a fire in January 2022 were his son.
Another was Anderson Quinland – alias ‘Bankers’ – who was found dead in the street in September 2022.
The bodies were contained in plain wooden boxes and brought to the cemetery in the back of two pick-up trucks escorted by police. There, a large hole had been dug by a backhoe as their final resting place.
The smell of death permeated the air as men in gas masks and hazmat suits carried the makeshift coffins onto the bucket of the backhoe to be lowered into the grave one at a time until all six coffins laid side by side.
Reverend Denise Smith-Lewis, of the Moravian Church, read the last rites for Cummins and Quinland, along with Nathaniel Andrew, Renol Delva, Edward Sylvester, and Limo Lee before the grave was filled and the few workers and police officers gathered left the site.
As the grave was being filled, it could be seen that the top of at least one of the coffins had collapsed under the weight of the soil before it was completely covered.
The families of the deceased were not permitted to be present, as the bodies had not been claimed, thereby leaving the cost of storage of the bodies and burials to be covered by the government.
Chief Health Inspector, Sharon Martin, explained that this was the first time this protocol regarding unclaimed bodies had been put into practice.
Three of the bodies had been in storage since 2021, with the remaining three being there since 2022.
Advertisements were posted since March 1, giving families 14 days to come forward to claim the bodies, which were held for an additional 26 days before being buried.
Protocol stipulates that the Chief Magistrate is then contacted for a warrant to allow the bodies to be interred.
Martin also clarified that whilst the burial this time was done en masse, usually bodies are interred individually when left unclaimed.
Storage for bodies averages $70 each per day, with the bill picked up by taxpayers.
Martin explained that the protocol is intended to help the government minimise costs incurred by unclaimed bodies whilst ensuring people receive burial in a timely manner.
She also clarified that while the bodies are buried at the expense of the government, the authorities can also claim assets owned by the deceased to cover the costs of storage and burial.
Some persons blame the high costs of funerals on why bodies occasionally remain unclaimed.
According to Reverend Smith-Lewis, some persons do express concerns regarding the costs of burials when consulting her for a family member’s funeral.
“It could range to up to $20,000 to $50,000, depends on what you have, but for the lowest for the simplest of boxes it is about $9,500,” she explained.
The reverend went on to remind residents that death is something that comes to everyone, and preparation is needed.
“Death is something that each of us has to face and I think that we need to make ourselves ready because it is gonna come at some point, and perhaps we need to maybe start something that persons can contribute towards. And so at the time of burial there is some amount [of money],” she added.