CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Lynette Smith regularly visits her sons' graves at Roosevelt Memorial Park off Campostella Road in Chesapeake.
Viron Bryant died in 1996, and Ervon Smith passed away in 2005. However, she recently noticed the flat headstone that's supposed to mark Ervon's burial site was missing.
"The ground is covered," Smith said. "There's no headstone, everything is gone and it's covered."
Smith told News 3's Jay Greene she reached out to the general manager of the memorial park, but she wasn't satisfied with the response.
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"They told me they'll write up a complaint," she said. "Then the manager told me she couldn't talk to me, she was busy."
Smith called News 3, and she showed Greene where the stone was supposed to be. It was still missing on Wednesday.
Greene got in touch with Michele Stone, the vice president of operations and communications for EverStory Partners. They own and operate Roosevelt Memorial Park.
Stone explained the grave marker recessed into the ground.
"I believe that this marker was placed about 20 years ago. And so some do kind of settle into the ground a little bit," Stone said. "They need to be raised, and they need to be leveled, we're happy to do that."
Stone said weather events like rain or snow can cause the markers to become unlevel, but their staff can make arrangements to fix them up.
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"If a customer has an issue, the customer deserves to have attention paid to it," Stone told Greene. "I mean, that's really the story there. And so if someone has an issue, bring it to our attention, you can bring it to the main office with the staff there."
Stone said the crews at the memorial park leveled the plaque and made sure it was flat.
"I hope [Smith] has some peace of mind that nothing happened to the marker," Stone said.
Thursday night, the marker reappeared. Smith said she has closure now, and her sons can rest in peace again.
"You know, it's just my connection with them," she said. "I still have that, you know, I can go talk to them."
