WRIGHTSVILLE, Arkansas — A Wrightsville neighborhood is upset after a man purchased plots in a local cemetery, but not for the reason you might expect— the man wanted to put his home there.
Not only does he want to place his home in the middle of their cemetery, but residents are concerned that he's possibly damaged resting places in the process.
Along Highway 365, a small graveyard sits. It's the home to dozens of passed loved ones.
Now, a living and breathing man wants to make it his home as well.
Earl Nix, who lives across from the graveyard, said that one day he saw a shed was delivered and placed on the property.
"He ain't got no business having it in the graveyard," said Nix.
The cemetery is owned by Virginia Baptist Church and has graves more than a century old.
Wrightsville Mayor Allan Loring told us that a man had put a 10-foot shed in the middle of a graveyard and even went as far as requesting utility service.
It's a tricky situation. The man, Gordon Geer, bought a chunk of the property with a quit-claim deed without seeing the land first, according to the mayor.
Despite seeing his newly owned property was already occupied, he marked off the boundaries with purple paint and added no trespassing signs.
"I said it don't make no difference whether the land is yours or not. People have been buried in that spot you just can't cover up them graves," said Mayor Loring.
There are questions about whether or not the man's shed is on top of any graves, but when we tried calling Mr. Geer, it went to voicemail.
The cemetery committee is in the process of getting the shed removed.
The mayor added that if the shed is on top of graves, there could be charges filed for desecration.