Stolen Military Grave Markers May Not Have Come From Cemetery

We've uncovered new information about the military grave markers that were found in the a stolen trailer that was recovered last week.

It's a confusing case that has police and folks at at least one Tulsa cemetery scratching their heads. Where did five bronze military grave makers come from and how did they end up in a stolen trailer?

The five plaques were discovered late last week. They were in bad shape, one had numbers partially ground down and another was cracked down the middle.

Brandon Powell, 28, was arrested, police say, after he was found driving a stolen truck that was towing the trailer where the plaques were found.

"Where the markers came from, I don't have a clue," said Linda Kennedy, Sales Director at Memorial Park Cemetery.

3/20/2013 Related Story: Defaced Military Grave Markers Recovered With Stolen Truck In Tulsa

She said when she first heard the story she immediately began checking to see if the markers could have possibly come from Memorial Park. But she said it looks like only one of the five people named on the plaques is buried there and she's not 100 percent sure of that one.

The name matches, Lueverdis C Taylor, and the birth and death dates have the same years, but that's as far as it goes.

Kennedy said she has no way of knowing if it's the same person and there's nothing wrong with the gravestone there. It's in perfect shape.

And there's more. Kennedy said it doesn't appear this family ever ordered a military marker.

"We have no record that we ever received a government marker," Kennedy said.

Kennedy said it would be next to impossible for someone to steal a government marker from a cemetery.

"They're set with concrete on the bottom of them, so to get one out, they could not just pick it up with their hand. They would have to have a shovel, some type of tool, to lift it out," she said.

Kennedy said they've double checked and every marker at Memorial Park is right where it's supposed to be, and the gates are locked every night.

Kennedy said families order those government markers through funeral homes, and it's possible the families changed their minds or couldn't afford them, and that the markers were never even delivered to the cemetery where the loved one is buried.