Pittsburg, PA

Baby’s body missing from Pittsburgh-area gravesite after burial 20 years ago

Published

8 months ago

July 4, 2025

Press Room

Baby’s body missing from Pittsburgh-area gravesite after burial 20 years ago

Ricky Sayer

July 3, 2025 / 11:47 PM EDT
/ CBS Pittsburgh

After 20 years of pain and torture, a Beaver County mother now has proof that her baby girl was not buried where her headstone sits in West Mifflin.

Christine Berezanich has never recovered from the death of her 2-month-old daughter, Italia Laird.

“I loved her with every being in my body,” she said. “She was a very beautiful girl.”

What happened after Italia died in 2005 from sudden infant death syndrome hasn’t made it any easier.

“I would still go to the grave every year,” Berezanich said. “I would still mourn her. I would take her flowers. I was talking to a ground that had no body.”

The area where she remembers burying Italia is 25 feet from where the monument company put her headstone.

“I called there and she said she’d get back to me,” Berezanich said. “She never called me. I felt betrayed by the church and by the company.”

For years, the monument company and the association that currently manages Holy Name Cemetery in West Mifflin have insisted the gravestone was placed where Italia was buried, Berezanich said. Once the church closed a few years after Italia was buried, the Catholic Parish Charities Association, part of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, took over.

The change in management created challenges as the association cited records that it did not create itself.

Berezanich found errors in the original church cemetery records, which show her 2-month-old daughter as having been born in 1904. Cemetery officials have since admitted to her that the pastor who managed the church was in the early stages of dementia.

“I would look down there, and I would see the ground, and it would just anger me to the point I quit going,” she said.

She returned to the cemetery on Wednesday as the plot with the headstone was dug up with the help of a local funeral director.

“He came over and said that the ground looked like it was undisturbed, like nobody ever dug the ground up,” Berezanich said.

KDKA’s Ricky Sayer asked, “What are you feeling in your heart when you hear that?”

“I told you so, and pain and anger,” Berezanich said. “I was very angry. As I was walking away, I screamed as loud as I could to get the frustration out. How do you lose a baby? I didn’t lose this child once. I lost her twice, and no parent should ever have to feel that loss.”

Probing is already underway to find the real location of Italia. Catholic Parish Cemeteries Association Regional Cemetery Coordinator Heidi Masterson provided KDKA-TV a brief statement:

“I am doing everything I can and so is the operations team of the cemetery to find where baby Italia was buried in 2005 before we owned and operated the establishment,” Masterson said.

For now, Berezanich’s pain and torture remain.

Source link

Related Topics:Allegheny County Beaver County Featured

Click to comment

Pittsburg, PA

Oneil Cruz Powers Pirates Past Astros

Published

4 hours ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

PITTSBURGH — Oneil Cruz needs to have a great season for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2026 and his strong Spring Training continued in their most recent victory.

Cruz hit a three-run home run off of Houston Astros right-handed pitcher Jayden Murray in the top of the fifth inning, playing a big role in the 5-2 victory at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach, Fla.

He waited on a changeup on the second pitch, 85.1 mph over the middle of the plate and sent it 106.4 mph off the bat and 368 feet, scoring both left fielder Billy Cook and third baseman Alika Williams with two outs.

That marks the first home run for Cruz in the Grapefruit League, who has had a great Spring Training so far, slashing .538/.600/.846 for an OPS of 1.446 in five games, with seven hits in 13 at-bats.

Pittsburgh got the win after the top of the sixth inning, after a rain delay ended the game.

Pirates Rookie Pitchers Have Up-And-Down Showing vs. Astros

Right-handed pitcher Braxton Ashcraft made his second start for the Pirates in the Grapefruit League and dominated vs. the Astros.

Sep 15, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Braxton Ashcraft (67) delivers a pitch against the Chicago Cubs during the first inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Ashcraft threw three scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and a walk, while posting two strikeouts for Pittsburgh.

Former Pirates pitcher, right-handed starter Mike Burrows, countered Ashcraft for the Astros. He threw three scoreless innings himself, allowed one hit and a walk and posted four strikeouts.

The Pirates traded Burrows to the Houston Astros in the three-team trade with the Tampa Bay Rays on Dec. 19, that landed them second baseman Brandon Lowe, outfielder Jake Mangum and left-handed relief pitcher Mason Montgomery.

Right-handed pitcher Bubba Chandler made his second appearance for the Pirates in the Grapefruit League and threw two innings.

Chandler immediately loaded the bases, walking both third baseman Carlos Correa and first baseman Christian Walker, then giving up a single to center fielder Cam Smith.

He came back and struckout right fielder Taylor Trammell and got left fielder Zach Dezenzo to pop out, but gave up a single to second baseman Brice Matthews and a run to the Astros, before ending the inning with a strikeout.

Chandler also gave up a solo home run to Astros third baseman Isaac Paredes, on a slider down in the zone.

He finished his outing with three hits, three walks and two earned runs allowed over 1.1 innings pitched, before left-handed pitcher Derek Diamond got the last two outs of the inning.

Chandler struggled in his first Spring Training start vs. the New York Yankees at LECOM Park in Bradenton on Feb. 23, where he allowed four earned runs over 1.2 innings of work.

Feb 23, 2026; Bradenton, Florida, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Bubba Chandler (36) throws a pitch during the second inning against the New York Yankees at LECOM Park. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

The Pirates will need better showings from Chandler, who should serve as a key piece of their starting rotation in 2026.

Other Important Notes from Pirates Victory

The Pirates added two runs in the top of the sixth inning, as Cook hit a single that scored second baseman Nick Yorke and then Williams singled, scoring Cook to make it a 5-2 ball game.

Cook had just one hit in eight at-bats coming into this game and scored twice in the victory, as he walked before the Cruz home run.

Designated hitter Marcell Ozuna led the Pirates with two hits, a good sign for them, as they’ll rely on him greatly for his power and hitting in 2026.

The Pirates are now 7-2 in the Grapefruit League and tied with the Yankees for the top of the standings.

Make sure to visit Pirates OnSI for the latest news, updates, interviews and insight on the Pittsburgh Pirates!

Source link