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Family forced to dig woman’s grave after cemetery leaves burial plot unfinished

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WFLA) – A family in Kentucky was recently forced to finish digging a loved one’s grave after they say the cemetery failed to do so in time for the woman’s funeral.

Krystina Gilbert, 33, recently died after a long battle with brain cancer. When she died, her family wanted to have her buried near other loved ones.

They expected to lay Gilbert to rest at Athens-Boones Creek Cemetery on Thursday.

But when they arrived at the cemetery for the graveside service, the grave wasn’t finished. Relatives tell our NBC affiliate in Lexington they even saw beer bottles at the site.

Krystina’s husband Paul and other family members then grabbed shovels and finished digging her grave.

“I mean, so many emotions are going through me. I wanted to cry one minute. I didn’t know how to act,” Paul Gilbert said.

Krystina’s sister, Heidi Lawson, said it’s already hard enough to bury a sibling and this made it even worse.

“It was terrible to sit and watch your sister’s coffin sitting there and your family burying her,” she said. “It’s not right.”

According to NBC affiliate LEX 18, the cemetery is trying to hire a new grave attendant now and will refund the family’s money for the plot.

The manager said he understands why the family is upset and said this isn’t the first incident they’ve had.