Unclaimed Hispanics buried in historic Washington DC cemetery

The historic Congressional Cemetery in the US capital will be the final resting place of 170 people who died in the last year and whose bodies were not claimed by the city’s Office of Forensic Pathology.

About 15 of them are Hispanics who lived in Washington DC and who were properly identified before the ceremony. As he explained to voice of america the director of Forensic Medicine of the District, Francisco Díaz, in all cases the families were notified of the death. However, due to economic or migratory situations, they could not take charge of the funeral services.

Díaz highlighted the importance of this ceremony taking place in a cemetery in the country’s capital, since previous statutes established that people should be buried within a radius of about 40 kilometers from the city, due to the few available cemeteries.

“Mayor Browser’s office made it a priority for people who lived in the District of Columbia to have the opportunity to be buried in the District’s cemetery (…) unfortunately there are people who do not have sufficient resources and opt for this service that we offer”, explained Díaz, detailing that in other jurisdictions a final disposition of the deceased is made without a ceremony in their honor.

During the event, the names of the deceased were read and a few words were offered in their memory. There, Díaz announced that the District of Columbia, where the city of Washington is located, will establish a larger grave where the names of the hundreds of unclaimed people who were buried will be engraved.

The Congressional Cemetery is the only one of its kind in Washington DC, where members of Congress, well-known personalities and residents of the District are buried.

“It is a cemetery that has its own sense of community, it is a special place. If there is one word of comfort for these families it is to know that their relative will never be alone here, there are always people visiting the cemetery and celebrating the lives of the people who are buried here,” he told VOA Congressional Cemetery Funeral Director Lily Buerkle.

Buerkle pointed out that the group of unclaimed Hispanic people represents 10% of the total deceased who were buried, which is “a reflection” of the population of Washington DC.

“At the beginning of the pandemic, in 2020, I saw that the community most affected by the pandemic it was the Hispanic people in DC (…) we have a lot of people who are not from here, who took a lot of risks by coming here, working here, just to support their family there,” Buerkle detailed.

According to the National System of Disappeared and Unidentified Persons (NamUS, for its acronym in English), there are currently 14,929 unclaimed people in the United States. Of these, 12,103 are Hispanic.

“To die here without a family, without news of the family, the family knows nothing. They have almost no money to pay for a cremation or incineration, which usually goes against their traditions and beliefs. We have families in this ceremony that are part of this group that are not from here, and so they were not claimed. It’s not that they’re not loved,” Buerkle added.

This is the third year the District has held such a ceremony. The first time was in 2019, when 130 unclaimed people were buried. In 2020, due to the pandemicthe ceremony was canceled and resumed in 2021, when 300 of these people were buried.

One of the event attendees, who did not want to share her name, told the VOA that he was there to say goodbye to “a great friend” with whom he had shared for many years. “This event was very special and we were able to send it off,” he added.

“It is very important that they be given a decent burial. A British prime minister in the 19th century said that the way a society treats its dead is a reflection of how that society treats the living. I believe that everyone deserves a moment in which they are remembered, “added the director of Forensic Medicine of DC.

For his part, the director of Defense Oversight of the Washington Office on Latin American Affairs (WOLA), Adam Isacson, highlighted the importance of treating these people with respect for human life.

“At the very least, that if you bury 170 bodies at the same time, have recognition of that, that you add an element of respect to it. That should be at least acknowledging that they were people who had aspirations, who had experiences, who fell in love, affected and They touched the lives of other people. You should at least, as a civilization, acknowledge that,” Isacson said.

The NamUS platform allows medical examiners and relatives of the missing to search for information on deceased persons in all states whose bodies have not been claimed.

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