Authorities Return Child's Tombstone To Its Resting Place
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Authorities in McLeod County believe they know where a misplaced tombstone belongs.
"We're describing it as an Easter miracle," Sgt. Allan Liepold said.
Since July of 2009, deputies have been baffled by the weathered gravestone. It was found in the drive way of an abandoned farm in Hutchinson, Minn.
Investigators think the stone belongs to a child that died over 100 years ago.
But they didn't know where it came from, since McLeod County has 58 cemeteries and the stone doesn't have a legible name. It only had the words "Unser Kind," which means "our child" in German etched into it.
"We decided that the caretakers that take care of the cemetery maybe our best lead to find out where the stone goes," Leipold said.
Then they got a tip from someone saying the stone belonged in a small cemetery northwest of Hutchinson called the Achoma Zion cemetery.
"I'm 99.9 percent sure that's where it came from," Leipold said. "It has a concrete base and it looks like it was taken off the concrete base."
He says the bottom of the stone and the cement pillar at the cemetery are a perfect match. Next to the cement base is another stone that looks similar to the one they found.
"It's nice to get the stone where it belongs," Leipold said. "I'd like to find the person who took it."
