A resident in Amarillo, Texas, has filed a lawsuit against the city of Lubbock Cemetery, alleging that the grave marker indicating her infant daughter’s burial site has been moved and that she doesn’t know if or where her daughter’s body has been moved, according to an article in theDaily Toreador.
Connie Sanders purchased a burial plot at the city-run cemetery in the early 1970s to bury the little girl in an area of the park called “Baby Land.” Sanders has since moved away from Lubbock and became concerned when she heard about problems at the cemetery and a prior lawsuit they’re facing. So she decided to check it out for herself. Sure enough, when she came to Lubbock to visit the burial site, the marker was gone. Sanders’ attorney told the newspaper that the only information the city has provided is a card-like filing system that acknowledges that the girl was buried somewhere in the cemetery. But there is absolutely no physical proof, no marker.
Sanders’ attorney has been contacted by other families whose loved ones were buried at that cemetery, but this is his first case regarding Baby Land, he told the newspaper. The city meanwhile says it will vigorously defend the lawsuits. The cemetery holds more than 400 funerals a year. So far, six other plaintiffs have filed suit against the cemetery making similar allegations. Sanders is filing for monetary compensation seeking damages for the emotional pain and suffering they are experiencing. Her attorney says the city cannot provide any other relief at this point.
There is in fact no other relief. How do you assuage the pain of a mother who doesn’t know where her infant daughter’s body is? How does anyone comfort the grief of a parent who already went through the harrowing, mind-numbing experience of losing a child and then have it happen all over again? Once again, it all comes down to the problem of choosing profits over people. You’d think that being in the business of comforting people, funeral home and cemetery administrators would show more kindness and sensitivity. And many do, but there are many others that don’t. It’s appalling what some of these businesses do – from switching expensive caskets for cheaper caskets to burying two bodies in the same gravesite. It’s unthinkable.