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The 45-year-old Connecticut resident, of Waterbury in New Haven County, has done everything she can think of after thieves stole her late mother’s granite headstone from Fairfield County’s St. Mary’s Cemetery in Bethel over the summer, she said.
“It happened sometime between Mother’s Day and, I’d say, the end of June,” Morgan told Daily Voice.
Following several attempts to reach St. Mary Parish, which oversees the cemetery, she was finally assured by church leadership that the Diocese of Bridgeport’s insurance carrier had been notified “and everything would be handled accordingly,” she said.
Morgan also filed a report with the Bethel Police Department and spent time searching the cemetery’s perimeter hoping that maybe a maintenance worker had simply knocked the marker over by accident. But no such luck.
After months of silence from both St. Mary and Bethel Police, Morgan turned to the Greater Danbury Area, CT Facebook group for help.
“Now, four to five months later, neither will return my calls regarding this incredibly unfortunate and upsetting circumstance,” she wrote on the Sunday, Oct. 27, post.
“Myself and my family are beyond devastated with not only the suddenly “missing” gravestone, but also the lack of professionalism and empathy those in charge have shown us.”
The post garnered plenty of sympathy and attention, including from both St. Mary and Bethel Police, both of whom reached out to Morgan. In a voicemail shared with Daily Voice, a representative for St. Mary Parish told her they reached out to the diocese and were told their insurance "does not cover that type of issue.”
“Which doesn’t make any sense to me,” Morgan said. “It should be covered as it's on your property.”
In a separate voicemail, an officer from the Bethel Police Department apologized for the “miscommunication,” saying investigators had followed up on all relevant leads and the case was now deemed inactive.
The officer noted there was no video evidence and that the timeline was “pretty hard," having happened months ago.
In a statement to Daily Voice, St. Mary Church Pastor Corey Piccinino described the theft as a "terrible thing and a horrible event," but confirmed that the cost of replacing the headstone is ultimately up to the family.
"In our cemetery, as in most, the headstone is the property of the person who purchased it, and or their heirs," Piccinino said.
"If the stone is damaged by our workers, we would be responsible for repairing or replacing the stone. If there is a theft or vandalism, the person who owns the headstone is responsible."
Piccinino added that the church is "very, very sorry for the loss and heartache to the family."
Now, Morgan faces thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket expenses to replace the stone commemorating the life of her mother, Patricia Kinnane, who worked as the head nurse for an emergency room in Stamford and died in 1986. Morgan was just 7 at the time.
“She put everyone’s needs above her own,” Morgan told Daily Voice. “No one deserves that.”
Anyone with information in the case can contact the Bethel Police Department at 203-743-5500.
A GoFundMe campaign or other fundraiser to assist Morgan with replacing the stone had not been created as of Tuesday, Oct. 29. Check back to Daily Voice for updates.
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