Error at north GA cemetery leaves family unable to be buried next to their daughter

After two decades, a northwest Georgia family learned they would be unable to be buried next to their daughter due to a mix-up at a cemetery.

WTVC reports that the mishap happened at Lakewood Memory Gardens South in Rossville, near the Georgia/Tennessee border.

Kami Edwards said she buried her stillborn daughter, Lily, there 20 years ago. She said she planned for her family to use the plots next to Lily’s grave.

But the family’s attorney said the cemetery made a mistake and now a different family owns the spot next to Lily’s grave.

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Four years ago, Edwards said she noticed something was wrong when she saw someone had been buried where they believed they had purchased plots to be buried next to their daughter.

Edwards said cemetery staff thought Lily was buried further over, and now the land in between is owned by another family.

Edwards told WTVC’s Sarah Hower that after a man from the grounds crew came out to Lily’s grave and measured, he confirmed there was a problem. Edwards said the grounds crew told her that the cemetery’s grid system had mis-marked the location of Lily’s grave.

A spokesperson for the cemetery said once they learned about the error, they offered the Edwards family different alternative options. In the end, the Edwards declined the cemetery’s offers.

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The family’s lawyer said this situation is a case of negligence and breach of contract.

A representative from the cemetery told WTVC they offered the family the following options at no additional cost to them: a deeper internment so the parents can be buried next to Lily, having Lily buried above them in a stacked grave, or moving her to have all three in a plot in a different location in the cemetery.

The family said they have decided to disinter and move her so they can one day all rest together.

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