ROSS-TER

I have recorded my involvement with the McGregor-Ross Mausoleum at http://www.ross-ter.com/Ross-ter_Reports/Mausoleum/MRM.html. I've received a few general plaudits from some public officials for my efforts to repair the only structure in the Pioneer Section of the old Union Cemetery in Waterdown, Ontario, but nobody suggested any form of tax relief. There has been no public assistance from historical organizations and there have been very few first-hand accounts of the mausoleum's history since 1973. There are items of great interest to me on many levels. However, the prime one involves the history of the building and its contents.

I have refrained from assessing blame, and I shall continue to do so, but it is my belief that records of deaths and burials are required to be kept by law. I don't think that the cemetery custodian had any entries beyond the one for my aunt, and permission was never granted for others to use the mausoleum after I placed her cremains there on June 30, 1973. A police report following a break-in and vandalism during October of 1988, which I haven't seen, supposedly made no mention of any change to the interior of the mausoleum (i.e.- no stored boxes and no further cement work). I arranged a trip to the mausoleum on May 14, 2005, and I was shocked at its condition. A photo of the changes, which are estimated to have occurred between 1988 and 2005, is attached to this letter.

There are two areas of concern for me, and further work on the mausoleum has come to a halt this year while I attempt to complete its history. I do not know whether I'll need the services of a lawyer and a private investigator; my retirement income cannot absorb excessive expenses.

I would like the Coroner's office to conduct an inquest into the contents of a coffin-sized green box (first attached picture). I don't know if the contents are a missing person, a victim of the Maffia or somebody's dead dog, but I would suggest that a body bag will be needed to remove the contents of the box for a proper study. If it is a person, can the sex be determined? Would it be possible to obtain a DNA sample; my own DNA should contain markers for my McGregor and Ross ancestry for comparison. Perhaps your investigation would uncover records about the individual. I believe that the extra cement work must have been done before the green box was stored there.