Action News Troubleshooters help Philadelphia family solve mystery of missing headstone

BALA CYNWYD, Pa. (WPVI) — Action News troubleshooters were called to help a family solve a mystery involving a missing headstone.

“My brother was a great uncle, fun to be around. He was always helpful,” said Tanya Williams of Mount Airy. “He was just an all-around good guy who meant everything to us.”

Curtis Bell III died suddenly of health complications when he was just 35 years old. His family buried him in a cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Montgomery County, and paid $1,600 for a headstone.

But when they visited his final resting place on his 40th birthday, they could not find his plaque.

“We were walking, we were walking, we were walking,” Williams said. We were devastated. We paid for a memorial plaque for our love for our brother, our son, our uncle and my slain mother. »

The installers showed the family a photo of the marker that had been installed, but it was nowhere to be found.

Williams tells the Tow Trucks she contacted the monument company and the cemetery, but says she didn't get the help she wanted.

” It hurts. It's hurtful that the only thing they told me was to place a temporary marker or buy another one. And I’m not ready to do that when we’ve already bought one,” she said.

So Williams contacted troubleshooters.

The troubleshooters contacted both the cemetery and the monument company and finally got answers and action for Curtis Bell's family.

The cemetery believes the marker was not placed on a foundation and washed away.

The monument society believes the plaque was stolen or fell into a nearby open grave.

It is still unclear what happened. But after repairers responded, a new marker was ordered at no cost to the Williams family. It is expected to be installed in the coming months.

“I'm grateful. I'm grateful to everyone who contributed to this process,” she said. “I'm happy about it and I'm grateful that it's coming to an end.”

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