GIBRALTAR, Mich. – It’s been 10 years since Chelsea Small was murdered. The family is continuing their calls for justice in her case.
But the family told Local 4 a story about Small’s gravesite and how a short miracle took place, which has sparked hope that it could lead to another miracle of a different kind.
“Her headstone completely got knocked over,” said Small’s mother, Debi Kamin. “Stuff was just a disaster.”
A decade after her murder, a tornado caused an overturned tree to damage her grave.
“But it didn’t scratch it,” said Small’s sister, Leslie Montes. “It didn’t chip it. It didn’t do anything to it.”
Small’s family calls it a blessing because of the lack of damage to her tombstone.
“When I got the pictures, that was bone-chilling to me,” Kamin said.
The way the grave looked was totally different than it is now.
“This gravesite never goes without somebody leaving a gift somewhere,” Montes said. “Someone is always leaving something. I don’t know who they are, but in my heart, I thank them for remembering my daughter for who she was to them.”
A man took a picture of the gravestone before the tornado had occurred.
“I looked at the tombstone, and I looked next to it, and I had to do a double-triple take,” said the man. “I’m looking at this huge trunk, but the tombstone was untouched.”
Now, family members are trying to get back to where it was. But they want to thank a family who tried their best to pay their respects specially.
“There was a nice person that came out and cleaned up the gravesite, and her and her boys put the headstone back up, and that was very nice of her,” Kamin said.
All in all, they’re hoping it’s a sign that a break will soon be happening in the case.
“I just thought that was very eerie and kind of crazy,” The man said. “I think it was a sign from above that everything was going to be alright for Chelsea and this family.”
Anyone with information should contact the police or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-Speak Up.
All tips to Crime Stoppers are anonymous. Click here to submit a tip online.
A cash reward for information leading to an arrest is up to $55,000.
