INDIANAPOLIS – Planning a funeral for a loved one can be tough, but it can be even more challenging when the cemetery forgets to dig the grave the day of the ceremony.
When Keith Lambert and his family arrived at New Crown Cemetery on Saturday afternoon to bury his father Jimmy, they discovered a plot with a tent covering the site.
“We go to a grave site where there is a tent thinking that it is my father's. They come out running saying, ‘no, no, no you are at the wrong place.’ We had no place to lay my dad when we got here,” said Donna Starrett, Jimmy’s daughter.
Taylor Simonis, manager of the cemetery said “unfortunately the person who processed the request was out (for the day)”
“Our goal is to relieve that anxiety, expense and inconvenience during the time of death and unfortunately we fell slight bit short of that today,” he said.
After a two-hour wait, workers quickly began digging the grave.
Unfortunately, not all family members were able to stay to see their loved one buried.
“Now, nobody even knows where his grave site is,” said Keith.
Management at New Crown Cemetery said this situation was unusual and they are working to make sure this never happens again.
