**Please note this is a generic stock photo of a headstone. It was not taken in the Neilburg cemetary. (Photo 316304442 © Manuel Milan Checa | Dreamstime.com)

By Julia Lovett-Squires

Remains found

Infant remains found in Neilburg Cemetery grave moved to new location

Jun 27, 2024 | 12:19 PM

Remains of an infant found in a Neilburg cemetery plot have been moved to another location following the unexpected discovery by staff.

“I guess it’s a little bit of a sensitive subject because we found it when we were doing a burial for somebody else that was supposed to be put in that spot,” said Kathleen McGladdery, deputy CAO for Neilburg.

“We don’t have any record of anybody being there.”

According to McGladdery, RCMP Forensics and Major Crimes Unit were called in. RCMP confirmed they were not proceeding with the investigation as it was believed the infant was placed in the grave during the dust bowl era.

“The RCMP basically just sent a picture of the remains and forensics deemed – because it was in the cemetery and everything – that they didn’t need to pursue anything,” she said.

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“They claimed it as historical.”

battlefordsNOW has reached out to the History of Medicine Department at the University of Saskatchewan for information on common practices of the era and has not received a response as of the publication of this article.

In a follow-up, police did confirm that decision to battlefordsNOW and said members came to the scene after consulting a coroner, who did not visit the site due to the age of the remains. While McGladdery said that contrary to other media reports that the baby was discovered on its own, the child was in fact in a coffin.

“Somebody cared,” she said. “Somebody purposely meant to put it there.”

According to the Saskatchewan Cemeteries Project, a volunteer organization dedicated to preserving prairie history, the Neilburg Memorial Cemetary had its first burial in 1931.

“We have all records from when that cemetery opened but…even now there’s times where people put people somewhere and they don’t tell us,” she said.

The grave was also never marked and in fact, that spot had been reserved since the 1980’s. In the meantime, the baby was returned and is now back in the ground in another location. To recognize the short life, the staff will place a marker.

“I guess I don’t know in this situation how sensitive it is to people,” McGladdery said.

“Obviously it would be nice to know who the baby belonged to and at this point, I would guess that their parents are probably deceased.”

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julia.lovett-squires@pattisonmedia.com

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