DAYTON — A family is still looking for closure nearly seven years after the loss of their mother.
Le’Annettay Robinson said her mother Joyce was always like a “guardian angel.”
“She was understanding and you could talk to her about anything. She was compassionate. Even when you didn’t think that you hit your low, she lifts you up,” Le’Annettay said.
When Joyce died in 2016 her children had her buried at Jeffersonview Cemetery in Dayton — but they claim the cemetery can’t tell them where exactly their mother is.
Robinson’s daughter Le’Annettay said it’s painful to see other families visit their loved ones when she doesn’t even know where her mother is.
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Joyce’s son Aaron said he came back a few days after her funeral to see the gravesite, but only saw piles of dirt.
“It‘s a shame we can’t come up here and spend time with her birthdays, holidays. It’s been seven years, it’s very emotional, very trying time,” Aaron said.
Two years later in 2018 he and his sister went back to the cemetery when a worker told them there were two spots where their mother could be; both spots were different from what they had told the family during Joyce’s funeral.
Aaron and Le’Annettay said they tried to get ahold of cemetery staff and management with no luck.
“Why can’t we get are correct or direct answer on where our mom is at? That’s all we asked for,” Le’Annettay said.
So News Center 7′s Brandon Lewis gave it a shot.
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The Montgomery County Auditor’s website lists the cemetery’s mailing address as the same address for former Dayton mayor Rhine McLin.
News Center 7 reached out to a number that was listed at McLin’s, Las well as stopped by her home with no success.
Last week McLin, the cemetery’s lawyer, and the Robinsons showed up for a hearing with the Ohio Cemetery Dispute Resolution Commission.
Jeffersonview ’s lawyer, Kelvin Boddie, claimed a former work may have given the Robinsons the wrong information.
“She’s older, in her 80s and she no longer works there and she sometimes gets confused so they may well have gotten incorrect information back in 2018,” Boddie said during the hearing.
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The commission asked the cemetery to use special equipment to go into the ground and see if a vault matches cemetery records.
The Robinsons question if the vault even holds their mother’s casket.
“It’s just sad, you don’t know where your mom is at, you can’t really properly put her to rest until you know where your mom is,” Aaron said.
The family said an expert will use that equipment in the next week or so, and they hope to be present for that process.
For now, they can’t help but wonder how many other families were given the wrong information.
News Center 7 will continue to follow this developing story and update as new information becomes available.