ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — Frustration is mounting for one St. Louis County man whose grandmother is resting at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Pagedale.
Michael Neal told 5 On Your Side that ever since he buried her, there has been little upkeep at the site.
Neal said when he buried his grandmother nearly 10 years ago, the cemetery grounds were clean. But over the years they began to deteriorate.
"We feel deceived," he said.
As Michael Neal flipped through his grandfather's photo album, he still thinks about the countless memories he shared with his grandmother.
"She loved her family. She loved us dearly," he said. "With her, it was from the beginning, we had this bond that was like no other. She was like my best friend."
It's why he was devastated when she died back in November 2012.
"I miss her voice. I miss her humor and I also miss just her presence," he said.
However, the pain and suffering of burying his loved one has never gone away.
"It's been the same thing for the past seven years," Neal said.
Neal said that almost immediately after burying his grandma, he started to have major concerns about her resting place.
"There's a lot of neglect there and we're just trying to get an understanding as to why that is," he said.
Over the years, Neal began to snap photos of his grandmother's grave along with others. The photos appear to show abandoned, run-down and neglected grave sites.
"It almost feels like we are walking into a war zone every single time we go over there," Neal said.
Neal told 5 On Your Side the cemetery blamed newly dug graves, weather and having to maintain 32,000 graves for the issue. But after nearly 10 years, Neal said, the disturbing problems still exist.
"It almost like a sense of disrespect. We chose the place because we thought it would be a dignified, respectful place for her to be and it just hasn't been that way," Neal said.
Neal feels like his grandmother will never be at peace. He said whoever is responsible for taking care of the grounds needs to do something to fix the issue.
"It doesn't seem like there's any sort of closure to this whole thing," he said. "I want them to go out there and make things right."
5 On Your Side reached out to the cemetery about the issue. They responded in an email, saying they had no interest in talking about the cemetery grounds.