5-year-old boy's gravestone repossessed after payment dispute
HICKORY, North Carolina -- Grieving parents in North Carolina are demanding answers after they say their son's grave marker was repossessed by the company that made it.
It's been nearly a year since Wayne and Crystal Leatherman buried their five-year-old son, Jake, after he lost a long battle with leukemia.
Crystal says she was stunned when she recently went to visit her son's grave and the grave marker was gone.
"He repossessed it, like it was a car," she said.
The owner of the monument company had the stone removed after he said the family didn't pay money owed.
"If you buy something, you've got to pay for it. No matter what it is," said J.C. Shoaf from Southeastern Monuments.
Shoaf claims the couple did pay in full for a stone, but they then made a number of changes, resulting in a larger bill.
"It was my first time in 56 years I've had this problem," he said.
When asked why he placed the stone without a full payment, he says he did it out of good will.
"Because the family had been through so much emotionally, grieving so hard, I thought we'd just go ahead and do it," he said.
At the same time, the Leathermans say they were never told about any increase in cost.
"If I would have owed him the money I would have paid him. This is not something you argue over," said Wayne.
Shoaf says it's all about paying his workers and he adds, he feels for the family.
"They've been through an awful lot, I know that. And right now they're thinking emotionally and having that grave out there unmarked, that's emotional trauma. I know. I lost a child, I know what that is," he said.
For the Leathermans, it's no longer about the money, but the precedent this situation may set for others.
"Most people are just going to do it. If they can do it, they're going to do it. But it doesn't make it right," said Wayne.
The Leathermans say they are looking for another company to build a permanent grave marker for their son.
