KSDK -- The owner of two Metro East cemeteries packed up and took off last weekend, closing the business for good. But there are still a lot of unanswered questions about what will happen to the cemetery and prepaid customers.
Edwardsville police say they've had problems with the Valley View Cemetery off Route 157 for more than a decade. Police say there have been several irresponsible owners, but this is among the worst they've seen.
Police started getting complaints about the cemetery when the current owner Hillman Crowell took over Valley View and the Mt. Hope cemeteries in Belleville a few years ago. Callers told Edwardsville police the grass was too long and the cemetery was poorly maintained. Officers ticketed Crowell and they say it got better for a while. But when Crowell died this winter, his daughter took over. Police say the problems got worse.
Officers say she didn't have enough money to pay the bills, so on Saturday, she packed everything up, laid off her employees and left.
Now a lot of people, including customers and the City of Edwardsville are left wondering what's next.
"I've got papers to be cremated here too," said Nova Farrell, whose husband is buried at Valley View. "I don't know if they'll take care of that."
"This is a pretty big cemetery," said Lt. Scott Evers of the Edwardsville Police department. "It requires a lot of maintenance. That's one of the issues we're trying to resolve now. Working with the comptroller, the state's attorney and city officials to find a short term solution and a long term solution."
We contacted the owner's daughter, but a woman at her office referred all calls to the Edwardsville Police Department.
Ideally, the City of Edwardsville would like to see the state step in and take control of the cemeteries until they can find a responsible party to buy them, but with the state's current budget problems, that may not be possible.
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