Rutherford County’s Sheriff’s Office will investigate questions regarding a burial at the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro’s new site on Veals Road.
Maj. Chuck Thomas told The Daily News Journal on Thursday that the office will “look into some concerns that were brought to our attention.”
A group of about two dozen people requested an investigation in a letter and petition presented to Sheriff Truman Jones earlier this week.
“Who is it that’s buried here?” group spokesperson Laurie Cardoza-Moore said in a press conference Thursday. “Is it a child? Is it an adult? Is it male or female? There are environmental issues. Was there a casket used?”
The group is also concerned about the burial permit that was issued by the Rutherford County Planning Department.
Cardoza-Moore said the permit was approved for one person to be buried on the site, notarized and dated May 18. But, the group claims the body was buried before that permit was even approved.
“It’s our understanding the burial took place on the 17th,” said Cardoza-Moore.
Murfreesboro Police have said they gave a funeral escort to the site on May 19, the day after the permit was issued.
Thomas said the sheriff’s office will look into the matter.
“We will make sure that the death certificate was obtained and ... that all the laws and rules were followed,” Thomas said.
The leader of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro, Imam Ossama Bahloul, didn’t talk to a WSMV reporter on camera about the issue, but reacted by saying: “We want to be a good neighbor and want to reside in peace.”
He went on to say, “We wish everyone in the city the very best.”
Islamic leaders had applied for a conditional use permit for a full cemetery on site, but later withdrew that request.
Plans for a new mosque and facility on the site off Bradyville Road have been challenged on a number of fronts since winning approval of county planners in May. Residents have questioned whether adequate notice was provided to the public concerning the site plans, whether traffic and environmental studies should have taken place, as well as whether the site could be used as a terrorist training ground.