A Tennessee grandfather was visiting a gravesite on Monday where his loved ones are buried, when he spotted his 6-month-old grandson’s casket floating in a puddle of water.
WREG reports that Tony Jones visits New Park Cemetery in Memphis every year to pay his respects to deceased family members. While visiting on Memorial Day, he spotted a small white casket floating in a puddle. Upon looking further, he realized it was the casket of his 6-month-old grandson, Ashton Mackey, who was supposed to have been buried on May 20. Ashton was born with cerebral palsy died suddenly earlier this month.
A family buried their 6-month-old nine days ago, but this is what they discovered when they returned this week. To make matters worse, they said they can't get in touch with the cemetery to fix the problem.
Posted by WREG News Channel 3 on Tuesday, May 30, 2017
“You know, you bring your loved ones out here thinking that this is the last and then you get a phone call and then the emotions come up all over again,” Jones said.
According to Ashton’s mother, Alysha Mackey, she wasn’t able to watch her son get buried. Her uncle was there instead, and watched the baby’s casket as it lowered two feet into the ground.
“He watched them bury him,” Alysha Mackery said. “Then I come [on Monday] and his casket was upside down, in floating water. It was on top of the ground.” I was distraught. I was devastated. I was confused. I thought I was going to pass out. I didn’t know what to think.
Ashton Mackey was buried less than two weeks ago.
Days later, his grandfather found his casket floating in water.>>https://t.co/zYaEM6Jdp7 pic.twitter.com/dR7IwxzdMi— WMC Action News 5 (@WMCActionNews5) May 30, 2017
Alysha spoke with officials from the cemetery who told her that given how recent the casket was buried and how it was only lowered two feet into the ground, the rain in Tennessee last week likely disturbed it. Regardless, Alysha said that given the weight of the casket and her son inside it, it should have never happened.
“A man there said he never seen nothing like it … he said he had been working there 32 years and he never seen nothing like it,” Alysha said.
Prior to speaking with cemetery officials, family members joined Jones and bucket by bucket, they emptied the water from the grave and put the sealed casket back inside. Crime Online reached out the cemetery but no one was immediately available for comment.
Check back with Crime Online as additional details become available.
WMC Action News 5 – Memphis, Tennessee
[Feature Photo: WREG/Facebook]
