QUEBEC-RESEARCH-L Archives

Archiver > QUEBEC-RESEARCH > 2006-07 > 1151757289


From:
Subject: Re : Stealing from the Dead
Date: Sat, 1 Jul 2006 08:34:49 EDT



Thieves stealing plaques from military grave
PORTSMOUTH, Ohio(AP) - Thieves have been stealing plaques from military
graves in area cemeteries and selling them to recycling businesses to try to cash
in on the high price of copper, bronze and other metals, a sheriff's
detective said.
About 20 plaques were stolen from cemeteries in South Webster and Vernon
Township during a two-week period in March and April, Denver Triggs, a detective
in Scioto County in southern Ohio.
The thieves steal the plaques to support their drug habits, Triggs said. The
plaques are worth $700 or more, but thieves only get two or three dollars a
pound when selling them, Triggs said. There are several businesses in the area
that buy copper, bronze and other metals.
Two suspects have been identified and will be arrested soon, he said.
High market prices for metal are enticing thieves everywhere to nab power
cables, pipes, radiators, gutters, aluminum siding and even farm irrigation
equipment.
The thieves removed the bronze plate from the gravestone of Danny Yelley, who
was killed on July 7, 1969, in Vietnam and was buried in South Webster. The
name of Carl M. Nickel, who died in 1937, was inscribed on the stone
underneath, said Yelley's uncle, Ray Lathrop.
"His family was sold a used stone in 1969," Lathrop said. "It's a shame to do
that to a veteran."

This thread: