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Help sought to stop thefts at city cemeteryBy Joel Stottrup Whoever is stealing memorial-type items from graves are "modern-day grave robbers," as they are still stealing from a grave site. That's the sentiment Donna Gerads of Princeton expressed last Friday afternoon after she had just changed the flowers at the grave of her nephew, Zachary Cole, who died last Aug. 10. Cole was 17 when he was killed while driving a car across Highway 169 just south of city limits and it was broadsided by a northbound vehicle. Gerads was clearly upset by what had been happening at the grave site of Zachary, but also at what has happened at other graves at Oak Knoll Cemetery in Princeton. Someone has been stealing items, including a hanging flower basket from Cole's grave that Zachary's parents, Calvin and Sharon Cole, had placed there. Some of the things placed at the grave have been by high school friends. Among the items were solar-powered lights placed on Zachary's grave by a friend of his, and the same type of lights were stolen from the grave of Zach's friend, Ross Elgin. Elgin died nearly two years ago in a car crash and Zach had placed the lights there. "You can't replace things like that," said Gerads. Gerads said that it is too bad people can't place memorial items on graves without them being stolen. "It's sad that you can't go there and just do the things that come out of our heart and soul," Gerads said. "We should be able to bring flowers and momentos that reflect our life and Zachary's life. It's just sad. To me, it's like modern-day grave robbing. It's so wrong." Being able to leave memorials and symbolic things at a grave is all that a person has left when their loved one dies, and then that is "stripped" from the grievers, said Gerads. Reports numerous Princeton police have received numerous reports of items stolen from grave sites at Oak Knoll to the point where Police Chief Dave Warneke is seeking the public's help in watching for suspects. The number of thefts at Oak Knoll was not large last year but thefts at Oak Knoll took place on a regular basis just before Memorial Day during the two years previous to that, and many were reported in the first half of this year, Warneke noted. While some criminal acts at cemeteries have sometimes been traced to juveniles, this does not appear to be the case here, according to Warneke. People have reported seeing some individuals - females from middle age to elderly - placing things inside a car at the cemetery. Those making such reports didn't think too much of it at the time, said Warneke. The descriptions from the reports in recent months "appear to be consistent" with observations that were made in previous years, Warneke said. If people see anyone doing something suspicious or loading items into a vehicle at the cemetery, Warneke said they should do the following: Jot down a license plate number if possible, along with a description of the persons and the area of the cemetery where the activity was seen, and call police immediately. (The number during the day is 389-4879. If no officer is around during the time of the call, a dispatcher can be called toll free at 1-888-860-8250.) "We're not asking anyone to confront them," Warneke said of anyone seeing a potential suspect. "We think most of the thefts are occurring during the day. We also believe that the people who are doing the thefts are probably selling the items at flea markets or garage sales, something of that nature." Also, if anyone is missing a gray resin-material angel statue nearly two feet high, the police department has recovered such an item. Warneke said it could have possibly come from a grave somewhere. Princeton Union-Eagle |