SALT ROCK, W.Va. — A gravedigger in West Virginia was arrested after allegedly disturbing an infant’s grave and leaving the child’s body out in the open, prompting a horrifying discovery by cemetery visitors, according to authorities.
Matthew Fortner, 49, was taken into custody Wednesday by the Cabell County Sheriff’s Office in connection with a March 27 incident at Baylous Cemetery in Salt Rock. Fortner is charged with displacement of a dead body and intentionally withholding information about the disturbance of human remains.
“We were here decorating graves for Easter,” a woman told a 911 dispatcher in audio obtained by WSAZ. “It’s like someone dug a grave up and there’s a baby.” A man on the same call added, “The casket’s thrown over a hill.”
According to investigators, Fortner had been working at the cemetery when he accidentally disturbed the infant’s burial site while digging a nearby plot. Instead of reporting the incident, police say he discarded the baby’s casket and clothing over a hill and left the remains exposed.
Cabell County Sheriff Doug Adams told WSAZ that his office was “shaken up” by the discovery and worked around the clock to track down who was responsible. “It’s bothered them and weighed on everyone’s minds,” Adams said of his investigators.
The baby’s remains were found by visitors placing Easter decorations at gravesites. “This is not what I expected to find,” the female caller said in the 911 recording. “We found baby clothes.”
Fortner has pleaded not guilty, according to online court records, and his bond has been set at $5,000.