Hundreds of Bodies Are Missing From a Tennessee Cemetery

This specific kind of grief is not unique to these plaintiffs—the problem of mismanaged cemeteries is actually unfortunately widespread. Similar reports of missing bodies have been registered in Texas, Florida, and even Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

The AP reports:

The federal government leaves cemetery regulation largely to states, which vary dramatically in approach, according to an Associated Press analysis of statutes, enforcement and lawsuits. Most states regulate cemeteries that are run as businesses, such as Galilee, but not religious, municipal or family cemeteries. State laws, however, are largely limited to licensing, establishing funeral director boards, developing a complaint process and providing financial protections for consumers who buy plots.

Many laws say officials reserve the right to inspect cemeteries, but that occurs only when regulators act on complaints. Few states — California is one, Florida another — require annual on-site inspections.

“Cemetery regulation is almost uniformly awful, where it exists at all,” says Joshua Slocum, director of the nonprofit Funeral Consumers Alliance, which has pushed for more federal regulation.

“Where it exists at all” is not comforting. You can read the full story here.