JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Ever since Channel 4 learned last week that over 2,000 graves from the Restlawn Memory Park on Jacksonville's north side would be exhumed because they were improperly buried, numerous families have spoken out about the excavation at the cemetery.
One woman who didn't want to be identified told Channel 4 that her son is buried at the cemetery and she's learned that his body will have to be dug up and re-buried.
"This first time was devastation and now I got to do it all over again? That's not fair," said the woman.
The woman said her son was murdered in 2012 and that his killer still has not been caught. Having to hear that her son's body would have to be exhumed dug up a lot of sad memories for the woman.
"It's just sad to find out that my son wasn't buried properly when he was buried in a proper cemetery," she said. "My family and I have been really struggling with his death and then for this to happen again, it's like somebody don't care about family or loved ones. What if it was their loved one?"
The sandy road that her son is buried under was something the woman just thought was part of the expansion of the cemetery.
"I could never understand when I used to go out there and I would see tire tracks, and I just thought it was people being disrespectful," said the woman.
Channel 4 spoke with the new owner of the cemetery who said since he's taken over, he's been inundated with calls from grieving families. Mark Riposta said they're doing everything they can to fix the problems left over by previous owners.
"Everything can't be fixed but for everything that can, we can make some sort of logical reasonable adjustment so that the deceased loved ones have their needs met," said Riposta.