Local and national outbreak of grave robbing

[LogansPapa]

By Nicholas J.C. Pistor
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
06/30/2008

Grave robbing has become an above-ground affair.

Gone are the days when enterprising thieves would dig up an old grave and pillage for gold teeth and rings. Today, it's mostly the bronze markers and flower vases that draw their attention.

Rising scrap metal prices, coupled with the lagging economy, have triggered a string of cemetery thefts both locally and across the nation.

"I can't think of anything lower," said David Evans, general manager for Valhalla Gardens of Memory in Belleville. "Nothing's worse than stealing from the dead."

But grave robbers beware: The authorities are getting wise. States are passing laws and police are cracking down.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/new...8?OpenDocument

[asdf2231]

Damn you George bush for reducing people to this to try to pay for gas.

[LogansPapa]

Damn you George bush for reducing people to this to try to pay for gas.

Buuaaahhhhaaaa! :D

[lacarnut]

I worked in a cemetery for a year. Only theft's I ever heard about was people stealing potted plants and flowers.

Vases would be easy to steal but markers would require a lot more effort because they are set in concrete, and a double marker would require 2 people to pick it up. Additonally, most cemeteries lock their gates around 6pm.

[Shannon]

Additonally, most cemeteries lock their gates around 6pm.

I don't think that really matters. I'm having flashbacks to my teenage years.:p

[noonwitch]

The Vahalla Gardens of Memory? What a great name for a cemetary. Ours all have names like Woodlawn, Grandlawn (where my family is buried), Roselawn, or biblical names.

[LogansPapa]

I don't think that really matters. I'm having flashbacks to my teenage years.:p

(from the movie: The Heat of the Night)

(louder) He says...

"Hey, little girl,
you know what
the coolest spot in town is?"

And I said "No, Sam. I guess I don't."

And he said...
"The cemetery. That's where."

"Know why?"

"Cos they got all of them
big, cool tombstones."

"Ever stretch out
on a tombstone, Delores?"

"Feel all that nice, cool marble
along your body?"

- He said that?
- You hear, Chief? You hear?

Yeah, I hear. I hear.