Families of loved ones buried at St. Matthew's Cemetery are still seeking answers after 200-plus graves were relocated following a river bank collapse.
- 200-plus St. Matthew's Cemetery graves were relocated following a river bank collapse
- St. Matthew's seeking court order to retroactively approve movement of graves without consent of families
- No decision was made by Judge Dennis Ward in court Thursday
St. Matthew's issued a petition to the courts to have them retroactively approve their actions.
Many of the families say they were not notified about the graves being moved.
At least 125 families are now looking for some type of restitution for having to experience this ordeal.
Representatives of the cemetery maintain that they had to act quickly without prior notification before graves were washed away by the Cayuga Creek.
"We reached out to 46 families, who have signed consent forms, so we issued new deeds for them," said Attorney Mike Brisman. "It's just not practical for us to get consent from 215 families. Our only option really is to go to court and get it.”
Attorney Barry Covert represents 70 of the 125 families that are pursuing a lawsuit.
"Now they're asking for permission after they have already violated the state statute," said Covert. "They're asking for the court to give them some stamp of forgiveness which really doesn't exist and we think that the court should not give this approval after the fact.”
No decision was made by Judge Dennis Ward in court Thursday.
Another hearing on the case has been set for July 29.