In The News

Traci Kornak, the beleaguered and bedraggled former treasurer of the Michigan Democratic Party, keeps digging herself deeper.

Kornak is the subject of multiple investigations into the alleged looting of her court-appointed ward, a brain-damaged old lady.

That old lady, Rose Burd, died last April. Rose’s sister wants to know where her sister’s money went. But she also wants to know what’s happened to Rose’s remains.

“Rosey wanted a Catholic funeral,” said her sister, Debbie Valenti, by telephone. “She wanted to be buried in the cemetery next to her first husband. Her name is already engraved on the headstone.”

Kornak, who was supposed to manage Rose’s finances in her capacity as legal conservator, showed up to the funeral services last year with a box full of ashes. Rose had been cremated, a much cheaper and less reverent alternative to a casket.

“Kornak told us we’d have to pay for the burial, because there was no more money in Rosey’s accounts,” said Valenti. “Then she took the ashes with her.”

Typically, burying ashes on a family plot costs no more than a few hundred dollars. Kornak did not return phone calls seeking comment.

The family has since retrieved the remains of their sister, Rose Burd. Stunned by the scope of the Kornak scandal, the family is discussing their next steps, said Valenti.