A piece of moss used by FBI agents and scientists helped convict four cemetery workers of grave-robbing crimes at Burr Oak Cemetery in Illinois. The scandal, which involved approximately 1,500 bones from at least 29 individuals, began in 2009 when investigators accused the workers of exhuming old graves, dumping bodies elsewhere in the cemetery, and resealing burial plots. Matt von Konrat, head botanist at the Field Museum in Chicago, identified the moss as common pocket moss (Fissidens taxifolius). The researchers used this discovery to establish a timeline to counter the defendants' alibis and chronology. The moss sample was only a year or two old, meaning it was disturbed during the defendants’ time working at the cemetery. As a result, the cemetery employees were convicted of desecrating human remains.