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Hopkinsville Cemetery Owners Indicted for Stealing Tomb Markers

A commonwealth attorney is urging families who have loved ones buried in Hopkinsville's Green Hill Memorial Garden to visit the graves to see if any markers are missing.

Attorney Lynn Pryor says a grand jury indicted Green Hill owners Jason and Taunya Strader last week on multiple felony counts including violating graves, theft of more than $10,000.  Pryor says the Straders were removing bronze grave markers and selling them as scrap metal.

“It’s a very sad and very serious situation. When someone puts a lot of thought and effort into where to buried loved ones, how to mark their tomb, how to pay honor and respect to them and then the owners of the cemetery just comes in and really doesn’t take into account the emotional attachment the people had with the resting place of their family members and their loved ones.”

Pryor says the Straders have ordered some new markers, but that they did not order them until the Christian County Sherriff’s Office got involved.

People who find graves missing markers can call the Christian County Sherriff’s Office. Pryor says the investigation is ongoing.

Whitney grew up listening to Car Talk to and from her family’s beach vacation each year, but it wasn’t until a friend introduced her to This American Life that radio really grabbed her attention. She is a recent graduate from Union University in Jackson, Tenn., where she studied journalism. When she’s not at WKMS, you can find her working on her backyard compost pile and garden, getting lost on her bicycle or crocheting one massive blanket.
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