MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Mid-South hero passed away after a long battle with COVID-19 and now, his family is having a hard time visiting his gravesite. That’s because they can’t find it.
Corey Warren has been buried for barely two months. He’s the Memphis apartment maintenance supervisor credited with helping save a mother and her 4-year-old from a fire in 2018.
His family would come to visit his gravesite whenever possible while they were still waiting on his headstone to arrive and be installed at New Park Cemetery.
But last Friday, they couldn’t find a single trace of where their loved one was buried.
“I’m out here lost and I’m telling my baby, my husband, “Baby, I’m out here looking for you and I can’t find you. No gravemarker with your name on it or anything,’” Corshunder Warren said.
The Warrens say they visited New Park’s office Friday, Monday and Tuesday before a temporary marker was set up.
“If y’all aren’t keeping up the gravesite, where is the money going?” Warren asked. “That’s frustrating, that’s heartbreaking, and it hurts me.”
New Park Cemetery did install a temporary marker at Corey Warren’s gravesite earlier this week, but you can still see just feet from his gravesite, trash on the ground, and tire tracks that litter the area nearby.
The Warrens want Corey’s gravesite, and the rest of the cemetery, kept in better condition.
“I need the dirt to be level. I want the debris picked up. That’s all we ask,” Warren said.
We spoke with New Park Cemetery. While they didn’t make anyone available for an interview, they did say severe weather and other conditions can affect gravesites, and they’re committed to upkeep.
They claim COVID-19 challenges have delayed Corey’s permanent headstone but say there shouldn’t be an issues moving forward.
