Lincolnton residents want damaged graves fixed or cemetery shutdown

LINCOLNTON, N.C. — Paying customers of a Lincolnton cemetery are outraged with how their buried loved ones are being treated. Residents have called out Forest Lawn Cemetery and Mausoleum on Highway-150 for improperly kept graves.

The cemetery is home to hundreds of gravesites. Crystal Norville has in-laws buried at the site and said she recently began to notice problems with specific graves. “I noticed that the graves were sinking, and I walked out across the graveyard and I fell into a grave,” Norville said. After looking deeper, Norville found graves with cracked headstones. She noticed some gravestone pictures were destroyed and flower holders were knocked down or completely missing.

WCCB Charlotte’s Zane Cina visited the cemetery and found tire tracks running across a number of graves and headstones. Some graves also had dirt exposed that looked as if the burial process was incomplete. Norville believes the problems began with a change in ownership. A North Carolina Cemetery Commission meeting shows that in 2023, cemetery ownership was transferred from a Mr. Dana Elder to a Ms.Ruth Thornquist with Faithful Heritage Holdings which is based out of Gainesville, Florida. WCCB reached out to Faithful Heritage Holdings with questions but was told “No comment,” before the call was abruptly ended.

Norville said she is working with the Cemetery Commission to hopefully spark change at Forest Lawn Cemetery. She recommends anyone with loved ones buried at the cemetery, who has also noticed problems, to reach out to the Cemetery Commission at (919) 981-2536.

“These people deserve better,” Norville said.

WCCB attempted to reach the NC Cemetery Commission by phone for comment, but has not yet heard back. Faithful Heritage Holdings has also not yet responded to questions asked through email and voicemail.