Indianapolis Graverobbing

Surveying the sensational newspaper accounts as events unfolded, author and historian Chris Flook recounts this grisly tale of political intrigue and conspiracy.
In the fall of 1902, Indianapolis police uncovered a prolific graverobbing ring operating across the city. At the time, cemeteries across central Indiana were relieved of their dead by ghouls, as they were called, seeking fresh corpses desperately needed by the city's medical colleges. The ring was also accused of multiple murders. In Hamilton County, a former Confederate soldier named Wade West delivered stolen corpses by floating them down the White River. His counterpart in Indianapolis, Rufus Cantrell, an itinerant preacher and full-time graverobber known as the "King of the Ghouls," ransacked Indy's cemeteries for years before being caught.

Chris Flook is a public historian from Muncie, Indiana. He has authored two books in addition to Indianapolis Graverobbing, including Native Americans of East-Central Indiana and Lost Towns of Delaware County . He also coauthored Beech Grove Cemetery Comes to Life in 2016. Since 2017, Flook has written the "ByGone Muncie" history column for the Star Press . He works professionally as a motion graphics designer, photographer and documentary filmmaker. He teaches in the Department of Media at Ball State University as a senior lecturer and is an active member of the Delaware County Historical Society.