TROY — The Riverside Cemetery in Troy is accused of throwing away personal items that were placed on graves.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
As previously reported on News Center 7 at 11, people showed up to the cemetery this week to find sentimental objects left at their loved ones’ graves gone.
TRENDING STORIES:
- Do you know him? Police search for suspect in Miami Township carjacking
- 6 new laws take effect in Ohio
- Man, woman killed; 2 others injured after crash in Clark County
“It’s frustrating because I feel like they don’t respect the dead,” Chad Morgan said.
Morgan visits Riverside Cemetery every other month.
“I always stop by, check out my mom’s grave, and there’s always been an angel set on either corner,” Morgan said.
When Morgan visited Thursday, the angels weren’t there.
“Everything was gone. She had stuff leaning against the front of her stone. It’s gone,” Morgan said.
Morgan says he reached out to the cemetery foreman to see what happened.
“They said cemetery rules. Nothing can be on the ground. It has to be on a solid foundation,” Morgan said.
Morgan was told he could add a concrete slab for memorabilia, for a price.
“Like 350 dollars,” Morgan said.
News Center 7 reached out to the cemetery foreman, but has not heard back.
Heather Kearns says her family has had stones at her dad and grandparents’ graves for over 20 years.
“It took me about 10 seconds to realize that those stones were gone because I’m out here so much,” Kearns said. “I was angry. I was upset. I was emotional. I texted my whole family, like the group chat, and I said, ‘did anybody come out here and grab these stones?’ No, nobody grabbed them.”
Kearns claims they followed the rules, so she is confused why the stones were tossed.
For Morgan, he was contacted by a councilman to see how much it would cost to replace the angel.
“It was irreplaceable. It’s been there since 1986, so that’s how long that statue sat there, and now it’s gone,” Morgan said.
News Center 7 is waiting to hear back from the cemetery and the city about this incident.
[SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
©2025 Cox Media Group
