Video showed Monroe graves being moved. Why? And where are they going?

A cemetery in Monroe is being relocated to make way for future development, city officials say.

Last week, a Facebook post with 80,000 views garnered dozens of reactions from across Union County after a resident recorded video of remains at Crook Cemetery in north Monroe being put into boxes. The cemetery is located on a small lot off Secrest Shortcut Road and surrounded by farm land. It is minutes from Monroe Cross Mall and behind homes on Sunnybrook Drive and Hillsdale Drive.

Many residents expressed concern about the bodies being moved and speculated it was to make way for a new subdivision. City officials say the relocation was initiated by the property owner, not Monroe.

The Charlotte Observer contacted the city of Monroe to get information about the cemetery’s relocation. Here’s what we found.

Why is the cemetery being relocated?

The decision to move the cemetery was made by the property owner using their own resources, assistant city manager Jeff Wells said in an email to The Charlotte Observer.

According to Union County property records, Geetha Vallabhaneni and Srinivas Kollipara of Harrisburg have owned the property since October 2021. Multiple attempts to reach the property owner were unsuccessful.

Wells said the property owner decided to relocate the cemetery for “future development considerations” and to relocate the remains to a cemetery with continuous care. The relocation is not a city project, Wells said.

The remains are being relocated to Suncrest Cemetery, which is owned and managed by the city of Monroe. The cemetery borders Parker Street, Washington Street and Cemetery Drive.

Wells said the 5.5 acre lot that Crooks Cemetery sits on is zoned as commercial mixed use which would not allow for a subdivision to be built there. As on Thursday, no applications for development have been submitted for the land, he said.

Resident reactions

Some residents are sad to see the cemetery go.

Joseph Austin is a resident of New Salem – a part of unincorporated Union County just outside of Monroe.

Austin grew up driving past the cemetery. When he saw crews of men and excavators on the property he felt compelled to pull out his phone and record.

“My thing was if they can do this here, what’s next?” he asked. “My whole family is buried at another church over here on Mill Creek (Road). It’s not the biggest church. What happens when that church goes under? What are they going to do?”