Two accused of stealing from the dead in Greenville cemetery
Published 7:38 am Monday, June 18, 2018
GREENVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Police say 87 metal vases have been stolen off of headstones in a Mississippi cemetery.
Instead of holding flowers for the dearly departed, some of the vases from Lakeview Cemetery in Greenville were shredded and sold as scrap metal. About 70 have been recovered.
Greenville Police Chief Delando Wilson tells the Delta Democrat-Times that two people are charged with grand larceny. They are 32-year-old Richard Hogue and 33-year-old Jessica Pickell.
Hogue and Pickell were being held in the Washington County Regional Correctional Facility awaiting an initial court hearing. It was not immediately clear whether they are represented by attorneys.
Bob Mortimer is co-owner of Mortimer Funeral Home, which owns and manages Lakeview Cemetery. He says vases will be put on all headstones where they were swiped.