Whittier : Cemetery Plots Donated for Unclaimed Child Victims
A Whittier-area cemetery has offered to donate plots and mortuary services to a group that wants to provide funerals for the county’s unclaimed child murder and accident victims.
The Rose Hills Co., which owns and manages Rose Hills Memorial Park, has set aside space for 42 burials and will also provide mortuary services for the fledgling Child Rest in Peace Foundation.
“God forbid, if they would need more spaces, we would provide them,” Rose Hills Executive Vice President Sandy Durko said.
The foundation is being organized by a Pico Rivera couple who decided to pay for the November funeral and burial of an unclaimed newborn girl who was murdered and found in a Downey trash bin.
Rose and Ellis Horton learned of the tiny victim from news reports. The child and all children like her deserve a proper funeral and burial, they said. It is county practice to cremate unclaimed bodies, including those of children.
The Hortons, who are trying to start a nonprofit organization, have since buried a second unclaimed child. Each time, numerous donors have stepped forward to help defray the costs.
“It’s nothing short of miraculous,” Rose Horton said of Rose Hills’ offer. “That should take care of our babies for at least another four years.”
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