Widow Sues Over Husband's Grave

FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - A Fort Worth widow is headed to court this week to get an answer to what she says is a heartbreaking question: the exact whereabouts of her husband's grave.

"The tears start to come, and I say 'Lord, give me strength'," says Pearlie Mae Jones. Jones and several family members have filed a lawsuit against the Cedar Hill Memorial Park in Mansfield, asking for confirmation that Jolden Jones, buried at the cemetery in November of 2010, is in the plot that the family purchased.

"I don't know who's there," says Mrs. Jones. "I don't know where he's at. He's somewhere along in there; but, where, I don't know."

Family members say they suspected on the day of the funeral that the grave was in the wrong place; but, they say their concerns were dismissed. Then a tombstone appeared, they say, in a spot where the earth was still undisturbed—and not where Jolden Jones had been buried. In fact, they don't think anyone is buried where the tombstone is placed.

"How could they put the tombstone in the right place," asks Mrs. Jones, "and they couldn't put him in the right place?'

Margaret Jones-Johnson, an attorney representing the family, tells CBS 11 that cemetery officials acknowledged the error by asking if another family member could be buried in the spot where Mr. Jones was supposed to be.

"The cemetery initially wanted the family to pay them $1500 in order to determine whether Mr. Jones was or was not in the plot they contracted for," says Jones-Johnson, who is not related to the family. "I believe it should not happen at the family's expense, especially when they told them on the day of the funeral that they suspected that this was the wrong spot."

Efforts to reach cemetery representatives were unsuccessful. But, grandson Tavara Jones says their questions have gone unanswered for too long and the family is fed up. They've filed suit to hopefully force a resolution. "We need closure, that's all my family wants… just closure. No more emails, no more settlement phone calls, just closure."

Because after being married for nearly 56 years, Jolden Jones' widow says she still has a promise to keep. "I want to know where he's at, because something could happen to me and I want to know before I go that he'll be in the right place, when I go," says Mrs. Jones.

After all, by his side forever, is where she always intended to be. "I want to know where he's at, so I can rest in peace."