Man accused of stealing vases from cemetery
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BETHALTO, Illinois (KMOV) — Police are asking for help finding a man accused of stealing memorial vases from a Bethalto cemetery.
On Feb. 23, it was discovered that around 80 small copper memorial vases were taken off burial sites at the Rose Lawn Cemetery. Police said the flowers that were inside of the vases were found thrown on the ground.
The vases reportedly had a collective scrap value of $22 but the retail cost to replace them is $4,800. The owners of Rose Lawn Cemetery have said they will cover the cost to replace the stolen vases.
A week after the theft, police said a suspect had been charged, but had not been arrested. Thomas C. Williams, 52, has a felony warrant for theft over $500. He was last known to be living in the Wood River or East Alton area. Anyone who knows Williams’ location is encouraged to call police at 618-377-5266.
The cemetery is one of the largest in the area and residents say that everyone around the area has family or knows someone buried at the cemetery.
“It’s just heart wrenching, folks come out here to spend quality time with their loved ones that they’ve lost and some quiet and respectful time and then to drive up and see all this it just literally rips your heart out,” said Timothy Kallal with the cemetery.
Joe Pruitt’s grandmother is buried at Rose Lawn and when he heard about the thefts, he decided to pay most of the replacement costs for the vases.
“I really think it was them that did that because if I didn’t have people to support my business I wouldn’t be able to do things like that,” said the small business owner.
He says these are especially trying times right now and said coming together as a community is more important than ever.
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