Is there any way to locate someone that has been buried in an unmarked grave?

Question

My relative is buried at Prospect United Meth. Ch. in Lawrenceville, GA and the grave is unmarked. I have spoke to several people at the church, but no one can help me. I would like to put a marker at the gravesite, but don't know which one. Are there any records available to determine this type of information?

Answer 1

I would check with the cemetary.  I know that when I was looking for my aunt, the people at the cemetary had like a blueprint of the plots, so to speak.

Answer 2

If you can find a burial plot map, you may be able to, as the lady above me said. From the way you worded your question, it sounds like you have tried that and come up blank.

If someone (gravedigger, minister, someone who was at the ceremony) is still alive, you could ask them. It sounds like your relative died too long ago for that, too.

It would be physically possible to find all the unmarked graves in that cemetery using the special instruments the police use when they are looking for a body, then test the DNA. Note "physically" possible. It isn't economically possible (Unless you are Bill Gates) and wouldn't be legal unless you had permission from everyone else whose ancestors are in an unmarked grave to dig them up and test them.

In the grand scheme of things, does the marker have to be right over your relative's head? Could you put a marker at the entrance, or near a particularly pretty tree, saying "Somewhere in this cemetery lies . . ." with the name and dates?

At the natonal cemetery in Hawaii there are huge, stately marble slabs with the names of thousands of marines, soldiers and sailors who died in World War II, whose bodies were never found. They lie "somewhere in the Pacific". It is one of the three most moving monuments I have ever seen. That monument narrows down the final resting place to 8,000 miles. At least you know to within a couple of hundred yards.

Answer 3

Even though the grave is unmarked, cemetary records should show where each body is buried. Is this a private cemetary run by the church, or a public cemetary run by the city? If the latter, check city hall and they should be able to give you the information you need.