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Families outraged decorative items removed during spring cleaning at Muncie cemetery

MUNCIE, Ind. (WISH) — Many families are feeling outraged over the spring cleaning at one cemetery in Muncie. They said the cemetery removed personal and decorative items at hundreds of grave-sites without warning.

This happened at Elm Ridge Funeral Home and Memorial Park in Muncie.

Many families with relatives buried at the cemetery told 24-Hour News 8 they were hurt by what they saw at the cemetery.

They showed up looking to pay respects to their loved ones only to find personal things missing from the grave-sites.

“I understand lawn care or when things impede mowing or things to that nature but this was beyond annual clean-up,” said Jessica Smith, who has loved ones buried at the cemetery. “This was just straight disrespect for the deceased.”

Smith returned to the cemetery after spending Sunday sorting through everything in the mounting pile.

She shared pictures with 24-Hour News 8 showing some of the items she found from personal notes to keepsakes.

“Hearing the stories behind the things that I took pictures of were heartbreaking there’s really just no words to describe it it’s disrespectful,” said Smith.

Smith said she looked through the pile trying to find statues left at her father and grandmother’s graves.

“I first went to my dad’s headstone and the items, his angels had been epoxy on were ripped off,” she said.

“There were three. I did find two of those the last one was unfortunately broken and the one that’s been on my grandma’s for 12 years was also gone.”

Stacey Hinton also shared a similar story.

“When I went back to my father’s grave they had completely taken the flowers out of the vase that is provided by the cemetery on his headstone,” said Hinton.

Hinton, like many others, said they were not notified about the removal and the new rules and regulations.

“There were not letters sent to me there was no posts or signs posted it wasn’t posted in the paper,” said Smith. “I feel like they could have done a better job at publicizing.”

24-Hour News 8 checked with the funeral home and memorial park.

The general manager told 24 Hour News 8 the message about the spring cleaning went up six weeks ago on the marquee along with a message about the new rules and regulations. It became effective April 1st.

“I understand rules and regulations however what we had were red white and blue flowers they’re not seasonal flowers and you took them off, why?” she asked.

Hinton said moving forward she’s hoping to receive some sort of formal communication from the cemetery, whether through email or social media.

“We gave you thousands of dollars to bury our loved ones and if you want our business then you should treat us with respect and that’s what it comes down to is respect,” she said.

The cemetery issued a statement saying “We have heard and are thoughtful of the concerns of families we serve. Elm Ridge is dedicated to improving our bi-annual clean-up process and communications.”

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