Cemetery mementos thrown out, loved ones outraged
News Staff
By Liz Tufts
ltufts@abc6.com
Disrespecting the dead–that’s what a group of Fall River residents say the city is doing. Many showed up at the Oak Grove Cemetery this week to find all the mementos, flowers, and stuffed animals they left at their loved ones’ grave sites gone.
"It’s been almost eight years. August 7th will be eight years," says Brenday Halliday.
Halliday has been coming to the Oak Grove Cemetery to visit her son and her mother who passed away, placing mementos in their honor throughout the years. But, earlier this week, she showed up and everything was gone.
"They took my son’s tree and my mom’s cherub that has been here since I put my mother into the ground and that was ten years ago," says Halliday.
It turns out, the mementos are against cemetery policy, but she never knew a policy even existed.
"If they would have let me know it wasn’t supposed to be here… but I’ve been running around this cemetery since I was a little kid and never knew about this," she explains.
ABC6 News was told the former cemetery director retired and someone new took over. Crews came in and removed anything that’s against cemetery policy, but again, Halliday says no one ever told her to remove the items herself.
"I would abide by the rules, I have no problem with that," she says.
Her mementos are gone, but a lot of others are now in a big pile in the back of the cemetery.
"It’s heartbreaking that all my stuff is gone," she says.
Cheryl Guilmette’s son passed away three years ago and was only told there was one thing she couldn’t do.
"I was told if I didn’t put anything in the walkway, we would have no problems putting anything down," says Cheryl.
She showed up this week to find all of her mementos gone as well.
"We chose this place so his children could come and place things," she adds.
The Mayor’s Office says they are working to find the root of the problem. Mayor Jasiel Correia released a statement to ABC6 saying people should have been given notice that crews would be removing things that weren’t up to policy. He says, "that was the wrong thing to do."
Until then, people are being told to pick up their stuff or it will be thrown out. Halliday and Guilmette say the city is disrespecting the dead.
"I’ve lost my stuff, but hopefully people can come here and get their stuff before they lose it," says Halliday.
A full list of what people can and cannot have on grave sites is on the city’s website.
© WLNE-TV 2016
