A Hyannis town clerk says the body of Mary Kennedy was moved without permits.
Last week, Kennedy's body was exhumed and moved to a remote part of St. Francis Xavier Cemetery in Hyannis.
A gravedigger at the cemetery told the New York Daily News that Robert Kennedy, Jr. had the body moved to a part of the cemetery the family was negotiating to buy for future expansion.
The man told the paper that Robert Kennedy wanted Mary Kennedy to be near her family members. According to the report from the New York Daily News, there are currently no members of either of Mary Kennedy's families in that area of the cemetery.
On Friday, FOX 25 News learned that the body was moved without proper permits.
Hyannis town clerk Linda Hutchenrider said that a removal permit is required to move a body, even within a cemetery.
"It's one of those cases that I believe (because) it was a private cemetery that they (thought) they could do what they wanted," said Hutchenrider. "Any body, whether private or public, needs to have a permit."
St. Francis Xavier's Father Daniel Lacroix told FOX 25 that local funeral homes typically work with the cemetery when there is a burial. He said that they were not consulted in this case as all of the arrangements for Kennedy were not made locally, rather they were made in New York.
Lacroix said he didn't realize the body was moved until Thursday. He said that cemetery superintendent, Frank Maki, works directly with families of the deceased and would submit the right of burial to the church. Lacroix said he did not know why Maki apparently did not go through the proper channels.
Fox 25 News placed a call to Maki, but it had not been returned.
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