NEW MARKET, AL -
A cemetery is a place where the dead are supposed to rest in peace. One family in Madison County says that's not the case for their loved one.They're dealing with acts of grave vandalism and they want it to stop. They turned to WHNT NEWS 19 to take action!
The location of the story is at the Rice Cemetery off of Winchester Road in New Market. When you are there, you may think of peace, calm, and tranquility. The Perry family says that is not the case.
"That's the only way I could get some action taken. We talked to the sheriff's office, and they said the gates are locked. We talked to the funeral home, or the people who own it, they say they never lock the gates," said Scott Perry."
The reason the locks at the Rice cemetery came into question is due to vandalism.
Scott Perry and his sister told WHNT NEWS 19 someone knocked things over at their dad's gravesite.
"It is very unacceptable. People who do this have no morals. They have no respect for people," said Tina Perry.
Tina Perry says she and her family visited the grave three days ago. It was then, all of them noticed things were moved.
She says the biggest change at the plot was a small hole. In it, was a base to hold down an angel looking over her dad's grave.
"You come out here, and see a big hole by my dad's grave, and it makes you want to do nothing except break down, and cry," added Tina Perry.
The Perry family says this is not the first time they've had a problem with the cemetery.
"Every time we come out here, something is always missing, and something is always broken," added Tina Perry.
Tina says she called the Madison County Sheriff's Office who told her there's not much they could do. They did tell her the cemetery locks the gates at night.
Perry made another call, and this time talked with someone with the cemetery.
"She told me that they do not lock the gates at night because the gates are so old, and they probably couldn't even lock," added Tina Perry.
WHNT NEWS 19 took action, by calling a member of the committee that oversees the cemetery, to find out if that was true. The person on the other end of the phone said it was.
WHNT NEWS 19 asked, "outside of the committee, is there no one accountable?"
The response was, "no, not really. Not really. The committee is not really responsible, accountable, or what ever you want want to call it," said an unnamed committee member.
The committee member says the cemetery is never locked because it's a community cemetery. The committee members are all volunteers who try to maintain it on their own time.
The Perry family says they just want someone to make the vandalism stop.
"We just want the sheriff's office, or somebody to step up, and find out what is going on here. That's not asking much," added Scott Perry.
A woman called WHNT NEWS 19 about 30 minutes before the story aired. She told us she has a relative buried at Rice Cemetery. She said her son's grave was vandalized too. Vickie S. of Scottsboro told us this over the phone:
"It's devastating that you lose a loved one, and you can't put something on a grave because you know someone will take it. What you put there is from the heart. It's how you release your feelings to get through the process. It's just devastating."
No one should have ever to deal with this. WHNT NEWS 19 is committed to seeing that it stops. We'll let you know when we get results for these grieving families.
If you have a problem that you can't solve on your own, count on WHNT NEWS 19 to take action for you.
The location of the story is at the Rice Cemetery off of Winchester Road in New Market. When you are there, you may think of peace, calm, and tranquility. The Perry family says that is not the case.
"That's the only way I could get some action taken. We talked to the sheriff's office, and they said the gates are locked. We talked to the funeral home, or the people who own it, they say they never lock the gates," said Scott Perry."
The reason the locks at the Rice cemetery came into question is due to vandalism.
Scott Perry and his sister told WHNT NEWS 19 someone knocked things over at their dad's gravesite.
"It is very unacceptable. People who do this have no morals. They have no respect for people," said Tina Perry.
Tina Perry says she and her family visited the grave three days ago. It was then, all of them noticed things were moved.
She says the biggest change at the plot was a small hole. In it, was a base to hold down an angel looking over her dad's grave.
"You come out here, and see a big hole by my dad's grave, and it makes you want to do nothing except break down, and cry," added Tina Perry.
The Perry family says this is not the first time they've had a problem with the cemetery.
"Every time we come out here, something is always missing, and something is always broken," added Tina Perry.
Tina says she called the Madison County Sheriff's Office who told her there's not much they could do. They did tell her the cemetery locks the gates at night.
Perry made another call, and this time talked with someone with the cemetery.
"She told me that they do not lock the gates at night because the gates are so old, and they probably couldn't even lock," added Tina Perry.
WHNT NEWS 19 took action, by calling a member of the committee that oversees the cemetery, to find out if that was true. The person on the other end of the phone said it was.
WHNT NEWS 19 asked, "outside of the committee, is there no one accountable?"
The response was, "no, not really. Not really. The committee is not really responsible, accountable, or what ever you want want to call it," said an unnamed committee member.
The committee member says the cemetery is never locked because it's a community cemetery. The committee members are all volunteers who try to maintain it on their own time.
The Perry family says they just want someone to make the vandalism stop.
"We just want the sheriff's office, or somebody to step up, and find out what is going on here. That's not asking much," added Scott Perry.
A woman called WHNT NEWS 19 about 30 minutes before the story aired. She told us she has a relative buried at Rice Cemetery. She said her son's grave was vandalized too. Vickie S. of Scottsboro told us this over the phone:
"It's devastating that you lose a loved one, and you can't put something on a grave because you know someone will take it. What you put there is from the heart. It's how you release your feelings to get through the process. It's just devastating."
No one should have ever to deal with this. WHNT NEWS 19 is committed to seeing that it stops. We'll let you know when we get results for these grieving families.
If you have a problem that you can't solve on your own, count on WHNT NEWS 19 to take action for you.
