70°
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
7 Day Forecast
Follow our weather team on social media

Dirt pile cleared from cemetery, headstones found after 2 On Your Side report

Related Story

WALKER - A large pile of dirt that was dumped on graves has been removed. Several people responded after Wednesday night's 2 On Your Side story offering to help.

Kelly Trahan with Total Dirt Solutions LLC volunteered his time to scoop and haul off the dirt at Vickers Cemetery in Walker on Thursday and Friday. The mound of dirt, left over from digging graves, is now a smooth surface.

Elaine Watts contacted 2 On Your Side about the dirt pile after her calls for help didn't produce results.

"I cannot believe it's being done today," Watts said.

She has family buried at the cemetery. Earlier this week, she told 2 On Your Side that the dirt had been in the middle of the cemetery since 2020 and it was piled on top of her brother's headstone.

"I tried to look around and see if I could find it, the headstone, but I couldn't," she said.

It was nowhere to be found. Friday, that headstone and another were found once again.

Vickers Cemetery is maintained with the help of donations and is run by volunteers. Some of them were at the cemetery Friday as the work was underway. Lewis Sibley says he's been trying to find someone to clear the dirt for two years, but—because of liability concerns—no one has agreed to the job.

After the story aired on Wednesday, Sibley says he got a phone call from Total Dirt Solutions wanting to help. The work was completed before this weekend's rain.

Now that her brother's headstone is back in place, Watts says she can visit and not have to worry about where her loved one is buried.

Sibley says it's changing the cemetery burial rules and that from now on, dirt dug from graves will not be allowed to be left behind.

News

Desktop News

Click to open Continuous News in a sidebar that updates in real-time.
Radar
7 Days