PLAINS TOWNSHIP, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — 28/22 News has the exclusive story of a crumbling mausoleum in Luzerne County and the removal of remains from that mausoleum.
The Good Shepherd Memorial Park in Plains Township has been the focus of an I-Team investigation for more than a decade.
The story gets deeper every time we report on it.
The owners of the cemetery and mausoleum insist they did not know they were buying a cemetery and as a result, have not maintained it.
Caught in the middle of it all are dozens of families who don't know what to do or where to turn.
"It's like reliving a funeral over again. There's peace, but there's also a lot of sadness," said Denise Kumor, who had the remains of her parents removed from the crumbling mausoleum.
Emotions ran high Wednesday at the Good Shepherd Memorial Park in Plains Township as the remains of Alice and Carl Denunzio were removed from the crumbling mausoleum. They were laid to rest there in the 1990s.
"It was awful. I couldn't come here. Every time I would come here, I would be a wreck. I mean, it's just a mess here and my parents didn't deserve this," Kumor explained.
Kumor and other family members watched, prayed, and cried as the remains were removed.
In recent years, the mausoleum has been falling apart. The roof is collapsing, and vandals smashed windows.
Plains Township condemned the mausoleum in 2015.
Good Shepherd Cemetery owner Viktoria Evstafieva said the following to the I-Team in 2006.
"We did not purchase the business part of it. We did not intend to continue this place as a cemetery," Evstafieva said.
So they have not maintained the cemetery.
"Well, I think they have to step up to the plate. I know they bought this property not knowing it was a cemetery now. This was handed to them, it was given to them. They need to step up to the plate, you know, this is their responsibility," Kumor explained.
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Funeral Director Chris Yanaitis has helped dozens of families remove the remains of their loved ones.
"It never gets easier it truly doesn't. The structure is falling apart every day and it gets worse. It's heart-wrenching that nothing is being done," Yanaitis said.
28/22 News reached out to the owners and we have not heard back.
