SALT ROCK, W.Va. –– A man is in jail in connection to an infant’s remains being found in a Cabell County cemetery.
Matthew Ray Fortner, 49, of Huntington, was arrested Wednesday and charged with displacement of a dead body, a felony, and disturbance of a dead body, a misdemeanor. Fortner was arraigned on those charges in before Magistrate Dan Goheen.
The corpse, which belonged to a male, was found over a hillside at the Baylous Cemetery in Salt Rock last week. Authorities said the corpse was found by a family maintaining a separate area.
According to a criminal complaint that was filed, Fortner was employed as a gravedigger who worked at the cemetery.
Cabell County Sheriff Doug Adams says Fortner came across the infant’s grave while working in February.
“He (Fortner) was digging a grave that was next to this infant child’s grave, and he dug up the casket of this infant child, and instead of doing the right thing, he threw it over the hillside,” Adams said.
When the infant’s remains were discovered last week, the right arm and the right foot had been removed by unknown means.
Adams says the investigation is not complete.
“We’re still waiting on other things to get back from the lab and (state) medical examiner’s office,” Adams said.
The criminal complaint shows that the infant was buried in 1982.
The Baylous Cemetery Board of Directors released a statement Wednesday evening following Fortner’s arrest.
“The Board of Directors is shocked and saddened to hear that an employee of a contractor used by Baylous Cemetery stands accused of committing this crime. We continue to cooperate with the Cabell County Sheriff’s Office and thank them for diligently working to solve this case. We hope that justice will be served.”
Fortner is being held in the Western Regional Jail a $105,000 bond.