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A Jacksonville man is accusing a Georgia cemetery of losing his infant's remains, per First Coast News.
Kamaron Hickman said he was stationed in Germany in 2001 when his six-month-old daughter Jada died in her sleep. The family was relocated to Georgia, where they buried the infant at Hillcrest Memorial Park in Augusta.
The family decided in 2023 that they wanted to have Jada exhumed and cremated since they no longer live in Georgia. However, Hickman said a groundskeeper told them that their request wouldn't be possible because they couldn't find the girl's remains.
In an email, the family said they were told Jada's remains were lost "due to the passage of time."
"It just kind of ripped the scab off everything, all over again," Hickman said. "I'm stuck in between complete just frustration, devastation. On the other side of that is a whole lot of anger because it took a long time for us to kind of process this."
Hickman said the cemetery offered to send the family dirt from her grave. The father said he believes his daughter was buried in the wrong spot.
"It's very painful to lose a child once it's one thing, but to lose her again, it's unmentionable. You can't even fathom that," Hickman said.
Dignity Memorial, the entity that owns the cemetery, issued a statement in the wake of the allegations.
"We have an obligation of privacy to the families we are honored to serve and, as result, we are unable to discuss this matter with the media. While we did not acquire the cemetery until 2006, we have been and remain committed to working closely with the family to find a resolution.”
Hickman said he is considering taking legal action.
"We will not rest until something is done, and this company is held accountable for what they've done," Hickman said.
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