Local

Family says their loved one's Jacksonville grave site was torn up

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A local family is outraged after they say cemetery workers tore up and left their loved one’s grave site in ruins.

Maintenance workers were instructed to clean up debris, broken glass or old items left around gravestones. But, a local family told Action News Jax their tidy resting place for their mother was torn up by maintenance crews.

A beloved mother of four and a grandmother of eight was laid to rest at Riverside Memorial Park Cemetery, but her daughter, Teresa Boyd, told us her grave site was disturbed.

“It just looked like it was picked up uncaringly and tossed to the side,” Boyd said.

Boyd’s sister put a border around the grave marker after their mom was buried in 2012 to prevent other clean-up crew disturbances.

“They would come out, would actually run across the top and they would leave tire tracks and dirt on the gravestone,” Boyd said.

There’s one sentimental item that Boyd told us brings back memories of time spent with her mom.

“This was the angel that I took out there. My mom and I hand-painted this angel a long time ago,” said Boyd.

Action News Jax took our questions to the cemetery manager and we were asked to leave their property and directed to call their media line. Riverside Memorial Park sent us the below note about why the items were removed.

Trending on ActionNewsJax.com:

“We certainly empathize with grieving families who wish to add personal items to the graves of their loved ones. We care deeply for our families and strive to provide them with a peaceful and beautiful environment in which to remember their loved ones. Certain grave decorations may present safety hazards to our grounds workers and visitors to the park. We keep all removed items at the cemetery for a reasonable period so that any family who wishes to retrieve an item has the opportunity to do so. It was never our intention to upset or offend any client family.”

Boyd told us the manager spoke with her and said their intention wasn’t to take family items out of the loved one’s area, instead it was to clean up the gravestones. The manager told Boyd there was a misunderstanding with their maintenance crew.

A misunderstanding that left Boyd’s mother’s gravestone unkempt.

“They left piles of dirt there and they left a few things behind,” Boyd said.

Boyd said management said they have her sentimental items stored in a box at the cemetery and she’s planning on picking up those mementos.