In a shocking incident, West Virginia police have arrested a gravedigger named Matthew Fortner for disturbing the grave of an infant boy buried in 1982. This bizarre crime has drawn significant attention due to its disturbing nature.
Last Thursday, a grave decorator at Baylous Cemetery in Salt Rock discovered an infant’s body while preparing a grave. Following the 911 call, authorities launched an investigation that revealed Matthew Fortner, 49, who was contracted by the cemetery, had inadvertently dug up the child’s casket while preparing a burial plot for another person. Disturbingly, he reportedly discarded the casket by dumping it over a hillside, according to reports from WOWK.
The infant, only a few months old at the time of burial, was found in the cemetery’s center. Nearby, pieces of the broken casket were discovered, and a criminal complaint indicated that fragments from the casket matched those found within the grave that Fortner had excavated.
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Reports from WCHS highlighted that the body of the baby boy was found with his right arm and right foot removed, though the circumstances surrounding this discovery remain unclear.
Cabell County Sheriff Doug Adams stated, “He [Fortner] was digging a grave adjacent to the infant child’s grave and accidentally unearthed the casket. Instead of taking the appropriate action, he carelessly discarded it over the hillside.” The investigation is ongoing as authorities await further analysis from the lab and the state medical examiner’s office.
As reported by WSAZ, Fortner has a criminal history that includes a murder conviction, for which he received a life sentence with mercy in 1999. He was paroled in 2008 after his murder conviction was overturned, leading to a sentence for attempted first-degree robbery instead.
Fortner now faces charges that include disinterment or displacement of a dead body or part thereof, damage to a cemetery or graveyard, and violations concerning the protection of human skeletal remains, grave artifacts, and grave markers. His bond has been set at $105,000.
He is scheduled to appear in court on April 10.
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[Feature Photo: WOWK]
