Slain gangster John Dillinger's body to be exhumed from Crown Hill Cemetery in Indiana
Holly V. Hays and Dawn Mitchell - - USA TODAY • July 30, 2019
INDIANAPOLIS - The body of John Dillinger, the notorious 1930s bank robber, will be exhumed from his Crown Hill Cemetery burial site in Indianapolis.
This month, the Indiana State Department of Health approved a request from Dillinger's nephew, Michael C. Thompson, to disinter the body and return it to its place at Crown Hill by Sept. 16.
There was no reason given for the request for exhumation.
Aaron Seaman, general manager of Crown Hill, said they have not been contacted by the funeral home regarding the exhumation and a date has not been set. When reached by IndyStar Tuesday afternoon, Dillinger's great-nephew Travis Thompson said the family was declining to comment.
Born in Indianapolis on June 22, 1903, John Herbert Dillinger Jr.'s family moved to Mooresville, where Dillinger committed his first recorded crime — a car theft.
Dillinger went from small-time crook to America's Most Wanted after a string of bank robberies and an ill-fated bank robbery left a police officer dead. His status as Public Enemy No. 1 made him a legend.
On July 22, 1934, 15 FBI agents and members of the East Chicago Police Dept. killed John Dillinger as he left the Biograph Theatre in Chicago.