Grave Site Has One Body Too Many

Oct 17, 07:22 AM

Current Headlines: By FRANK ELTMAN

By Frank Eltman

The Associated Press

GARDEN CITY, N.Y.

Willie Hayes was a Vietnam War veteran who proudly served his country, won several medals and earned himself a plot at a veterans cemetery upon his death last month.

But there was one problem: As far as the U.S. government was concerned, it buried Willie Hayes nearly four years ago.

An apparently homeless man who went by the name Willie Hayes and had the same Social Security number, military record and date of birth was laid to rest at the cemetery in 2003.

The family of the recently deceased Hayes was stunned to find out about the apparent impostor, and cemetery officials are asking some perplexing questions, among them: Did the man in the grave steal Willie Hayes' identity? Was it a clerical error? Was his name even Willie Hayes?

"If he didn't serve in the Army, he shouldn't be there," said Hayes' brother, Sylvester. "It's not fair to the veterans. He stole my brother's identity."

This much is certain: The Willie Hayes who died in September at 59 served in the Army in Vietnam, earn ing several medals, and he worked at a printing business. His family provided cemetery officials overwhelming documentation of his military service and identity that shows he is the rightful owner of a plot at Calverton National Cemetery.

But virtually nothing is known about the other Willie Hayes.

He was buried on Dec. 24, 2003, in the Long Island cemetery, two months after dying in a Bronx nursing home. No one came forward to claim his body, and the nursing home staff believed he was homeless. A spokesman for the center did not return a call for comment.

There appear to be no relatives to interview and precious few clues about his past. If it is determined that the man was an impostor, his body will probably have to be exhumed and put in a pauper's grave in New York City.

Officials are exploring several scenarios in trying to solve the mystery.

One is identity theft - the man who died in 2003 could have simply stolen Willie Hayes' personal information at some point and went to his grave as an impostor.

Another is that the man in the grave really was named Willie Hayes - and perhaps even a veteran - but his Social Security number and personal information somehow got mixed up with those of the other Willie Hayes.

While the sleuthing continues, the white granite tombstone for the man who died in 2003 has already been removed and replaced with a green marker; the grave site for the man who died in September is awaiting a tombstone. The "real" Hayes was buried Oct. 5 in a different part of the cemetery.

Calverton director Michael Picerno said officials have ruled out the possibility of exhuming the 2003 Willie Hayes in hopes of lifting a fingerprint to establish his identity. Picerno said such tests would probably not yield any results because he died so long ago.

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