KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Families say they are waiting months, even more than a year, to get headstones for loved ones they’ve paid for at one Kansas City cemetery.
Marilyn Ross and her son, Ennice Ross Jr., were inseparable.
She said the 49-year-old died of COVID-19 while incarcerated in September 2020.
“Even though he was in jail, he would call me every day, so it’s kind of hard every day that I get up, not getting that phone call,” Ross said. “And even though it’s been a year, I still wish that I could talk to him.”
The Missouri Department of Corrections wouldn’t confirm the cause of death but just a couple weeks later as her son was laid to rest, Marilyn Ross said she bought a headstone from Twelve Gates Memorial Gardens on East Bannister Road.
She showed FOX4 a $650 receipt she said proves the October 2020 purchase.
But after that, it’s a familiar story.
“Every time I’ve called them, they’ve taken a message,” Ross said. “I’ve never gotten to speak to anybody. Because every time I call, no one knows anything about what’s going on.”
Last week, FOX4 introduced you to a daughter who waited 13 months for her father’s headstone and 24 hours after the FOX4 Problem Solvers got involved, it was installed.
Since then, FOX4 has received multiple calls and emails with similar stories.
“After you guys went out there and did that interview with them, then they kind of started the ball rolling on his,” Ross said.
But still, she said no work has been done.
FOX4 contacted the owner, Saundra McFadden-Weaver, Monday morning who promised an answer by that afternoon.
After that came and went, FOX4 dropped by the cemetery. She asked us to leave, saying she was with a client and she’ll contact us after. FOX4 is still waiting on that call.
The Missouri Attorney General’s Office said it received one complaint concerning this in 2019. They encourage people who feel scammed or defrauded to contact their office and file a complaint.
As previously reported, Twelve Gates Memorial Gardens has a “C+” rating with the Better Business Bureau and is not BBB accredited, according to their website.
