PORT ARTHUR, Texas — A grieving family is speaking out claiming a Port Arthur cemetery disrespected the final resting place of their loved one.
It happened at the Live Oak Cemetery on West Port Arthur Road. Anna Washington went to visit her mother, Ezola, on Mother's Day only to find the headstone at the gravesite was not in its usual spot.
"It was devastating," Washington said. “Being prepared to bring flowers to your mother's gravesite for her birthday and for Mother's Day, and to find it in a disarray with vases and trash all around. You know we are devastated because why would they even move it.”
Her family split up to find the headstone and eventually located it in between two others graves with trash and grass all around.
“It was turned sideways, as you can see, the imprint of where the headstone was placed,” Washington said. “How long this had been there? We have no idea. Why it was there? We have no idea."
Washington and her siblings called the Live Oak Memorial Cemetery for answers the same day, but their calls went unanswered. The family called again the next day and was told by management that a work order was put into place.
A week later on May 12, which is also Ezola’s birthday, the headstone still had not been placed back.
“I could not get the owner's name, number because I wanted to let them know that the whole area was a mess," Washington said. "It wasn't vandalized, but it looked like someone tossed it between the two headstones."
12News reached out to the cemetery for comment. Management said when people get buried, they have to move headstones so they don't get damaged. It was just unfortunate for both parties that the family saw the stone out of place.
"To make sure everything is in its proper place," Washington said. "That is disrespect, and disrespect to the family. So, what I am asking Live Oaks Cemetery is to be respectful. We pay a lot of money to bury our loved ones in a cemetery. We want to come out and not be devastated, seeing the headstone misplaced."
Washington's mother's headstone has since been put back in its original spot. She hopes another family never has to go through this.
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