The city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania has a mystery afoot!
This week, a gravestone appeared behind an apartment complex with a confusing history. Its marking reads Ann E. Graham, but there’s no record of an Ann E. Graham living in Lancaster.
Police officials deduced the stone was purchased and engraved at Haldy Keener Memorials. After a bit of sleuthing, the team at Haldy Keener discovered the order slip, dated 1979, with variations of the name on the headstone.
“They were probably initially trying to figure out, will ‘Ann Elizabeth Graham,’ will there be enough room to put that on. And on this size marker, ‘Ann E. Graham’ would fit much better,” Dee Steele said. She serves as a memorial consultant for Haldy Keener Memorials.
The intended destination of the headstone?
Jamaica!
“Or Jamaica, Queens. We don’t know. There’s so many unknowns,” said Sgt. Todd Grager, who is on the Lancaster police force.
This mystery has a few peculiarities.
“There’s nothing on the stone from what we can see that would be moss or lichens or anything like that,” Steele stated.
“This was never set in a cemetery,” concluded Dee Steele.
In fact, it’s likely that the headstone was preserved somewhere between now and its creation in 1979.
The Lancaster police force, along with the team at Haldy Keener Memorials, are working together to determine next steps for the gravestone.
“To us the bigger concern would be to get it back to the family of Ann Graham,” explained Sgt. Grager.
Whether the family is in Lancaster, Queens, or the country of Jamaica, there are still hopes that the gravestone will find its home. It’s an astonishing piece of history to just pop up in a backyard, but the team is hopeful that they can find a place for the headstone to land.
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