Maine men charged with digging up their dead relatives

Maine men charged with digging up their dead relatives
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Three men have been charged with illegally moving their relatives' ashes to a new cemetery in Maine.

Two of the men, 71-year-old Calvin Lewis and 37-year-old Travin Lewis, are Maine residents, while the third, 42-year-old Kevin Lewis, is a resident of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The trio has been charged with "abuse of a corpse," according to the Associated Press. The men will appear in a local court on Nov. 18.

The men moved the remains of the late Richard Lewis, along with his son of the same name, from a cemetery in Standish, Maine, to their family's plot in a Limington, Maine cemetery. The late Richard Lewis was Calvin Lewis' brother and the father of Travin and Kevin Lewis. The remains were moved last fall, and they were returned to the original cemetery earlier this month.

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Kevin Lewis told the Portland Press Herald that the men "just thought we had a right" to unearth and move their family members.

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Meghan DeMaria

Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.