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U.S. NEWS Wednesday 31 July 2019

Body of 1930s gangster

John Dillinger to be exhumed

By RICK CALLAHAN
Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The
body of notorious 1930s
gangster John Dillinger is
expected to be exhumed
in September from a con-
crete-encased grave at
In this Dec. 10, 2018, photo, immigrant boys play soccer at the an Indianapolis cemetery
Homestead Temporary Shelter for Unaccompanied Children, a more than 85 years after
former Job Corps site that now houses them in Homestead, Fla.
Associated Press he was killed by FBI agents
outside a Chicago theater.
Florida, Virginia The upcoming exhumation
could put to rest conspira-
among sites for cy theories suggesting that
the violent criminal some
people considered a folk
child migrant facilities hero during the height of This file photo shows Indiana Reformatory booking shots of John
Dillinger, stored in the state archives, and shows the notorious
the Great Depression isn't
gangster as a 21-year-old.
even buried in his marked Associated Press
grave.
By MIKE SCHNEIDER reduce the potential need The Indiana State Depart-
Associated Press for temporary influx shelters after his son's funeral, Dill- exhibits, so they were con-
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The in the future," the letter said. ment of Health approved inger's father had the cas- cerned."
a permit July 3 sought by ket reburied under a pro-
She added that she hopes
Trump administration is The nation's largest child Dillinger's nephew, Michael tective cap of concrete the exhumation ends lin-
scouting sites in central migrant facility is in Home- C. Thompson, to have and scrap iron topped by gering speculation that
Florida, Virginia and Los An- stead, Florida, where im- the body exhumed from four reinforced-concrete Dillinger isn't even buried
geles for future facilities to migrant advocates have Crown Hill Cemetery and slabs, said Susan Sutton, a beneath all that concrete,
hold unaccompanied mi- described "prisonlike" con- reinterred there. historian with the Indiana and confirms his sister's
nors who have crossed the ditions. The permit doesn't give Historical Society.
identification of her broth-
U.S.-Mexico border. Existing migrant facilities a reason for the request, "I think they're going to er's body.
The U.S. Department of have become a flash- and Thompson couldn't im-
have a hard time getting The Indianapolis-born Dill-
Health and Human Ser- point in the 2020 presiden- mediately be reached for through that," Sutton said. inger was one of America's
vices sent letters to Florida tial race. In recent weeks, comment. However, Dan The reason for the con-
most notorious criminals.
lawmakers Monday saying Democratic lawmakers Silberman of A&E Networks crete-encased grave was The FBI says Dillinger's gang
it is looking for vacant prop- and presidential candi- says the exhumation will be to thwart would-be van-
killed 10 people as they
erties in those locations to dates have visited and covered as part of a docu- dals, she said, citing "Crown pulled off a bloody string of
build permanent licensed toured facilities in Texas mentary on Dillinger for The Hill: History, Spirit, and Sanc-
facilities for children under and Florida and decried History Channel. tuary" a 2013 book the his- bank robberies across the
Midwest in the 1930s.
age 18 who have entered the conditions in which Indiana health depart-
torical society published Dillinger was never con-
the United State illegally they found migrants. Pro- ment spokeswoman Jeni about the cemetery's his- victed of murder and he
without a parent or guard- tests have sprung up na- O'Malley said that based tory.
was considered a folk hero
ian. tionwide as the public out- on the permit, the agency "The main fear was that by some during his gang's
The permanent sites will cry builds momentum. expects Dillinger's body will someone
come violent rise amid the Great
would
minimize the need for unli- "We should be closing be exhumed and reinterred in and dig up the grave Depression as banks were
censed temporary deten- camps, not opening new on Sept. 16 — the date list-
tion centers, according to ones," tweeted Democrat- ed on the document. and either desecrate the failing, others were limit-
corpse or steal it," Sutton ing withdrawals and many
the letter. ic Florida Rep. Anna Eska- But digging up Dillinger's said. "The Dillingers had ac-
Americans had lost homes
"The search for an addition mani, one of the Florida grave might prove a dif- tually been offered money and farms to foreclosure,
of permanent licensed fa- lawmakers who received
ficult task because days to 'lend out' his body for Sutton said.q
cilities is being pursued to the letter.q