DETROIT – A Local 4 Investigation revealed dozens of problems at a city-owned cemetery -- misplaced bodies, missing headstones, heartbroken families. That led to questions about the contractors Detroit hires to run its cemeteries. One contractor, with a history of state cemetery violations - stood out.
Background: Grave markers moved, missing headstones: Problems plague Detroit cemetery
State records show there were persistent problems at a Canton cemetery: almost $300,000 missing from cemetery accounts, operating without a license, a $10,000 state fine -- The red flags were there, but the city hired him anyway.
This story isn’t just about the contracts, it’s about people, and the mismanagement of Gethsemane Cemetery created lasting pain for dozens of Detroit families.
In 2010, Shona Dudley’s son Darryl Johnson was murdered. She said visiting Darryl’s gravesite at Gethsemane Cemetery brought her some comfort, some connection with her son, until 2017, when she found Darryl’s headstone had been moved.
“That’s what’s killing me because I had that bond with my son that I’ll never see again. That was my one and only son,” Dudley recalled. She says after she complained to cemetery management, Darryl’s headstone was returned to its original spot - but the haphazard movement of her son’s headstone shattered her faith in Gethsemane management. “I don’t think that he’s where he’s supposed to be. He’s not really there. They just put that headstone on somewhere else and I’m talking to a strange person.
More than two dozen families have come forward with similar stories of misplaced bodies and missing headstones.
“We still haven’t found Burt and Selma,” said John Barker.
When the headstones for John Barker’s parents just disappeared from Gethsemane, he said the cemetery contractor told him it was the city’s problem. The city told him to talk to the contractor.
“Well, I would say who hired the contractors? It was the city,” Barker said.
There is a lot of finger-pointing over who is responsible for problems at Gethsemane Cemetery, Local 4 spent months going through more than 240 pages of city contracts, dozens of state documents and court records dating back more than 10 years.
You can see the full documents at the bottom of this story.
That’s what led us to Sam Tocco, a cemetery management contractor with a history of problems. Tocco, through his company ST Enterprises, had city contracts for Gethsemane between 2013-2020, but his history with cemeteries and problems goes back more than a decade.
In 2003, Tocco took over management of Knollwood Memorial Park in Canton, where according to state documents, he violated state cemetery laws again and again.
You can see the state complaints regarding Knollwood Memorial Park at the bottom of this story.
Despite all those red flags, the City of Detroit gave Tocco’s company a contract to manage city-owned Gethsemane Cemetery. And after Tocco took over management of Gethsemane, he continued to also manage the privately-owned Knollwood Cemetery -- where violations also continued: hundreds of thousands of dollars, still missing from cemetery accounts, more un-submitted state reports.
Another state fine -- $5,000, went unpaid until it went into collection. In the midst of all this, Tocco filed for bankruptcy protection in 2015. And despite his bankruptcy and long history of state cemetery violations at Knollwood, The City of Detroit amended ST Enterprises’ contract in 2016.
Tocco pulled out of his City of Detroit contract in 2020.
The following year, an FBI investigation found numerous bodies at Gethsemane Cemetery buried where they weren’t supposed to.
June 2021: Families demand answers as investigators dig for second day at Detroit cemetery
Distraught Detroit families filed a class action lawsuit in 2022 against the city of Detroit along with several of its cemetery contractors, including Sam Tocco. That case was ultimately unsuccessful because the city was granted immunity by a Wayne County Judge; and the city’s cemetery contractors, Tocco included, were under bankruptcy protection at the time. So to this day, no one has faced criminal charges or financial responsibility for the mess at Gethsemane Cemetery.
In a video deposition for the class-action case, Tocco admitted his company sold between two and three thousand burials at Gethsemane Cemetery between March 2015 and May 2020, when the cemetery began to run out of space.
“It doesn’t go away,” Shona Dudley said about the pain of not knowing where in the cemetery her son is buried.
Like the other Detroit families Local 4 investigators spoke with, Dudley feels she is a victim of Detroit’s contracting decisions.
“Anxiety and emotion, you can’t function. Your mind has just gone, my mind is completely gone. What about my son?” she said.
Sam Tocco refused our offer of an interview.
Asked why it hired and renewed ST Enterprises’ contracts over the years, the city said:
“The original contract with ST was entered into in 2013 under the state-appointed emergency manager. Today, our office of contracting and procurement has procedures in place to screen potential contractors for such issues of concern.
The City’s contract with ST originally included only maintenance of Mt. Hazel and Forest Hill cemeteries. That contract was expanded on an emergency basis to include management and maintenance of Gethsemane after Necaba, which had been operating Gethsemane, abruptly walked away in the middle of their contract, leaving us with no other viable option. Contrary to what people may think, there are not a lot of companies that perform this type of work, let alone bid for it, and finding capable operators has been a constant challenge.”
Crystal Perkins, Director of General Services Department, City of Detroit
Gethsemane Cemetery is not selling burials anymore and a new contractor has stepped in to maintain the property.
Related: Cemetery operator ignored laws, lacked ‘moral character,’ Michigan regulators say
You can read the full documents below.
St. Enterprises starts on page 112. The first contract was approved by the city on Aug. 2, 2013. This $214,550/three-year contract was for “maintenance only, no burials.” Signatures begin on page 143.
The contract was amended in April 2015. It starts on page 153. The amendment made Gethsemane/ST Enterprises a “full-service cemetery” and compensation was raised to $478,550. The contract was extended to 2021. Signatures begin on page 161.
The contract was amended a second time on Nov. 13, 2016. This amended contract begins on page 164. It too increased compensation and extended the contract. Signatures begin on page 168.
Knollwood Memorial Park complaint documents:
