Grave mistake: Family says cemetery lost loved one

A local cemetery blamed for losing the body of beloved mother is now being accused of losing the remains of another family's son.

Now, this family is also demanding to have their loved one dug up.

"One thing about a mother, you remember the day that you had that baby and you remember the day that baby leaves you," Janese Littles-Brown told Action News.

Littles-Brown says she could never forget the night her son was gunned down on the streets of Philadelphia, or the day he was laid to rest.

"I only got three kids and he was my youngest," Littles-Brown said.

Littles-Brown buried 34-year-old Aaron Walker at White Chapel Memorial Park, but when she went back to check his gravestone, she stood by in horror as she was directed to what she says was the wrong plot.

"So I looked down at the grave, I said 'that tombstone says John.' So he starts measuring with his feet. So I'm just standing there looking at him. I said, 'well, first of all, he's over here,'" Littles-Brown said pointing in the opposite direction.

Littles-Brown says she had no doubt her son's body was lost among a slew of unmarked graves.

And her heartbreak began all over again.

"I hear about stuff like this, but I don't believe it, not to me. This don't happen to me," Littles-Brown said.

Littles-Brown first heard about troubles at White Chapel after Action News reported on the loss of Mary Pattishaw's body last year.

Pattishaw's family provided Action News with audio recordings of the gravedigger, Maurice Clark, telling them he'd have to dig up graves to find the right body.

When we confronted him about how many graves he had to dig up, Clark responded, "I'm going to call 911."

Pattishaw's family says their mother's body was finally found, and after our report, she was reburied in her correct and final resting place.

Maurice Clark approached us while we were interviewing Littles-Brown.

"Don't come up with Channel 6 News because, this lady here, I showed her where her grave is at and she's not sure about it," Clark said.

"I am sure," Littles-Brown said.

"The grave is over there," Clark said.

"Well, show us then. Show us again," Littles-Brown said.

"I'm not showing nothing," Clark said.

Clark claims Aaron Walker's body is in the right spot.

But Nesil Smalls says he knows the exact spot because he stood in the grave as they buried his father.

"I was deep in there. I was holding his head right in the center over there," Smalls told Action News pointing to a spot in the cemetery.

Maurice Clark called the cops when Action News was there.

Clark insisted to police that Walker is buried in the area that he showed the family, not the area they claim which is for burials from last year.

Police advised this is a most likely civil matter.

In tears, Littles-Brown says no matter what, she won't give up until her son can rest in peace.

"I'm not going to be satisfied. I have to know that's my son that I'm putting a tombstone on. I have to know it's my child," Littles-Brown said.

Brown is attempting to get a permit to dig up the area where the cemetery claims Walker is buried.

And since this was a Muslim burial, there is no casket. She plans to have the remains tested for DNA to confirm it is her son, before she puts a tombstone on his grave.

For more news and updates to her investigations, be sure to follow Wendy Saltzman on Facebook.