JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP — Families are continuing to come forward to speak out against a Jefferson Township cemetery.
It’s been seven years since Cherrie Howard’s sister Geneva died, and she is still working to get answers from Jeffersonview Cemetery about where her sister is buried.
“It was bad enough that she passed away, she was gone and you’re grieving, you’re grieving the loss of a loved one and then you have to lose them again at the cemetery and that’s as low as you can get,” Howard said.
Howard said even on the day of the funeral there was no indication of exactly where Jeffersonview was going to bury her sister.
“We never seen her lowered in the ground so my husband said ‘hey we need to go back, let’s go back tomorrow or the next day and make sure where she is’ so we went where we thought she was going to be and we didn’t see anything, any marker or anything that would say that’s where she was going to be buried,” she said.
Howard, like others who have spoken about Jeffersonview, said she’s spent years trying to get a hold of someone from the cemetery.
“You can’t reach them, you call them and call them to no end and then you stay on hold forever,” she said.
Howard is considering filing a complaint with Ohio’s Cemetery Dispute Resolution Commission.
The commission hears complaints from people experiencing problems with cemeteries registered with the state, or those that are not registered but should be, according to a spokesperson.
News Center 7 reached out to the commission to ask how many complaints have been filed against Jeffersonview since 2013, a spokesperson said there have been three.
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The complaints were filed in 2020, 2021 and 2023.
News Center 7 asked the commission spokesperson if Jeffersonview is registered with the state — they have yet to answer that question at the time of reporting.
The commission recommended anyone who has an issue not resolved by cemetery management to file a complaint with them in writing.
The state will send it to the cemetery operator for a response. If the complaint is not resolved, the commission will have a hearing with the cemetery operator and the person who filed the complaint.
The commission said they can only make a recommendation to resolve the problem or refer it to the state attorney general or local prosecutor.
“Anything, I’ll try anything at this point, anything if they can help me find out where her body is so we can put a headstone on her grave,” Howard said.
News Center 7 previously reported that property records show former Dayton Mayor Rhine McClin is connected to the cemetery.
At the time this story is being published McClin and her lawyer have not responded News Center 7′s several calls or requests for information.
We will continue to follow this story and update if any new information becomes available.
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