Discontent grows over Roswell cemetery

-get a look at what the district's clean teams are the outrage is growing over the terrible conditions at a roswell cemetery.. families are coming out to tell
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05:15 pm their stories -- in hopes that something can be done about their loved ones' neglected graves. joe bartels talked with one of those families. he is live in our roswell bureau tonight with more.. joe? the families say it's a matter of respect for their loved ones. viewers have called us to express their outrage and yesterday there was a meeting to discuss what should happen to the cemetery. "he says he's going to abandon it. it looks like its abandoned. it doesn't look like something that's going to happen... it has happened." joan park says she can't hold her silence anymore. "people who think this guy is being abused or mistreated have no idea the abuse and mistreatment to bereaved people who have paid... and done the right thing." she's talking about alan drake... the owner of the memory lawn memorial cemetery. she says while drake was burying her mother-- faulty equipment damaged her mothers casket "my cousin called me and said "we've had a little disaster out here, when they were lowering the casket, both straps
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05:16 pm broke." we talked to drake a couple of weeks ago about the cemetery-- he said he simply didn't have the money to keep up with maintaining the cemetery or equipment. "we stopped getting funerals, we've had two funerals in the past 7 months." over a hundred people with concerns showed up to a meeting for the roswell cemetery board trying to prevent more problems with drake. "that's what my family is interested in, stopping him from doing worse to another family." the cemetery board says the transition from private to public ownership could take weeks or even months. they suggested to many in the crowd to get a lawyer-- park plans to do just that. the matter will go before the city council to see if the city of roswell will take over the cemetery. reporting live in roswell, joe bartels, eye witness news four

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