Controversy surrounds Sacramento Catholic cemetery after improper grave management | Call Kurtis Investigates
SACRAMENTO -- St. Mary Cemetery has found itself at the center of controversy following revelations that it improperly managed graves, including burying someone in the wrong plot and moving a grave without notifying the family.
April Robinson shared her experience with us in 2015 after she says she received a call from St. Mary Cemetery about the grave of her 20-year-old son Maurice Lynch.
"He was buried in the wrong spot, and they have to move him," she said.
Sacramento's Catholic Diocese told CBS13 at the time, her son couldn't stay there because another family owned the plot.
CBS13 checked back in with April to learn the outcome of that case. She told us she filed a lawsuit, and the cemetery did not end up moving her son.
According to the Catholic Diocese of Sacramento, the 2015 case was, "resolved to the mutual satisfaction of all parties."
Natomas mother Sonia Rodriguez says she has lost trust in St. Mary Cemetery after they moved her daughter Jessica's vault two inches to accommodate a new burial. Rodriguez wants her daughter's remains exhumed and cremated. She also seeks a refund for the plot, headstone, and casket.
She says St. Mary Cemetery staff initially denied moving the grave, but cemetery management has since apologized for not notifying the family. Catholic Funeral and Cemetery Services of the Diocese of Sacramento asserts that they did not unearth Jessica's grave but simply adjusted the vault to make space for a recent burial.
The Catholic Diocese of Sacramento which owns St. Mary Cemetery has indicated that cemetery management is currently working with Rodriguez and her family to make amends.