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Remains Of Woman Buried In 1821 Stolen

Police Investigate Incident

POSTED: 6:16 pm EST November 7, 2007
UPDATED: 6:39 pm EST November 7, 2007

The investigation continues into a chilling grave robbery in New Hampshire, in which the remains of a woman buried in 1821 were stolen sometime last week.

NewsCenter 5's Jorge Quiroga reported that there is no doubt the grave was dug up with great care. The hole is perfectly rectangular and about 5 and a half feet deep. The dirt was left in ritualistic neat piles to either side.

On Halloween night, the grave robbers made off with the remains of a Hillsborough, N.H., woman who died in 1821 -- Sarah Symonds, the same name as a woman living 200 years earlier, who was prosecuted for witchcraft in the infamous Salem Witch trials.

Police said that they believe the theft is connected to witchcraft or a satanic ritual.

"It's like night and day. Satanism is, for lack of a better term, more cult-like worshiping, sacrificing and doing harm sometimes," Wiccan expert Dawn Whitting said.

Whitting shares many of the Wiccans', or witchcraft, beliefs. She said grave robbing is not one of them.

"They don't believe in power from taking something else -- taking from family, from the earth. They would not do anything like that," she said.

Whitting said it's a common mistake to equate witchcraft with Satanism.

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