Arlington National Cemetery grave controversy continues with new problem

Arlington National Cemetery contains the remains of thousands of US soldiers, sailors and Marines. This fall, multiple remains were found in a grave marked as 'Unknown' at Arlington National Cemetery.

A man walks amongst the graves at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., Nov. 11.

Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Photo

December 3, 2010

The Army has launched a criminal investigation after Arlington National Cemetery officials found eight sets of cremated remains buried in a single grave with a headstone marked "unknown."

Cemetery spokeswoman Kaitlin Horst says officials learned of the problem in October and that investigators have now identified three of the sets of remains. One set could not be identified and was reburied, and investigators are still working to identify the others.

The probe comes on top of a report earlier this year that found more than 200 graves had been mismarked on cemetery maps. Christopher Grey, a spokesman for the army Criminal Investigation Command, said that while those previous problems might have been human error, the placement of eight urns in one grave was unlikely to be by mistake.