ELKINS, W. Va. (WBOY) — Several families are calling out Elkins Memorial Garden for wrongdoing, saying that after they buried their loved ones at the site, they bought gravestones from the garden that never showed up.
A private Facebook group of people who have grievances with Elkins Memorial Garden has been organized and has 15 members as of Friday. 12 News spoke to four of these members, who said that after buying the gravestones—some as far back as 2023—each time they have tried to call the cemetery, their gravestones are delayed or they are unable to get through to someone.
Jamie Lovejoy told 12 News that several generations of her family are buried at Elkins Memorial Garden, and that when her father passed in 2021, he was buried on her family’s plot. They were able to raise the money and bought a headstone from Elkins Memorial Garden in 2023, but Lovejoy said that since then, the family has heard a series of excuses.
Lovejoy looked online and found that her family was not alone.
Amber Lewis said her family also bought a headstone in 2023 for her father that has not arrived. She said that along with the emotional strain of having a family member buried in an unmarked grave, the financial strain is also high.
“None of us are in a financial place where we could just get another headstone,” Lewis said. “It was a lot of money. Like, we got the cheapest one, but it was still, you know, a couple thousand dollars just for the headstone.”
Michelle Bogle said that her family bought a headstone for the ashes of her father and two uncles for $10,800 that has also been unfulfilled.
“The thought that him and his brothers are laying up there in an unmarked grave for a year now is heartbreaking to me,” Bogle said.
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Bogle said that Cemetery Owner Jeff Phares charged the family to expedite the gravestone, as the family wanted to bury their loved ones on Memorial Day in 2025. Bogle said when Memorial Day passed and the headstone still had not arrived, they reached out to Phares, who said the headstone would arrive in June or August and presented them with what appeared to be an order document from the monument company SuperNova International.
Bogle said that when she called SuperNova International, the company told her Phares had only inquired if they had the monument in stock and that no order had been made.
Susan Guiteras also bought a headstone for a loved one in the spring of 2025 that has still not arrived. Guiteras said she feels lucky that she has the ashes of her mom at her house, but feels enraged for the others.
“It feels frustrating, like [Elkins Memorial Garden] can kind of rely on the fact that they’re dealing with people who don’t know each other and are dealing with grief and might not connect these dots. Now, we’ve connected the dots, and I filed a complaint with the attorney general,” Guiteras said.
Several other families have also filed complaints with the Office of the West Virginia Attorney General as well as the West Virginia State Police. 12 News reached out to law enforcement about these cases, but has not heard back. We also reached out to the phone numbers listed on the Elkins Memorial Garden Facebook page, but found them to be disconnected.
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