BUTLER COUNTY, Ohio — On the outside, it looks like a normal cemetery, but grieving families say there’s something inside this cemetery that makes them feel like they’ve lost someone all over again.

  • The Butler County Memorial Park Cemetery has been at the center of several complaints
  • Families say it’s not being maintained, grass has grown over headstones, including war veterans 
  • One family took matters into their own hands and started cutting the grass and weeds themselves

Scotty Bowling knows what it’s like to lose someone. 

“My father’s right there,” said Bowling.

His family is buried at the Butler County Memorial Park Cemetery.

“My son’s over there,” said Bowling.

His son, who died at 19 years old, is one of them. 

“It’s kinda hard, but he overdosed on drugs,” said Bowling.

But he says it’s not just his son, but the cemetery, that adds to his grief.

“I come up here to see my loved ones and then I gotta come up here, I gotta cut grass, weed eat, I shouldn’t have to do that,” Bowling said.

He says he’s been cutting the grass himself so he can see where his family is.

Then he says he found another problem.

“It’s unreal, (sweeping off headstone) look at all this where it’s grown over, and nothing’s being done about it,” said Bowling.

Several other headstones, where veterans are buried, are covered. 

And several other families have been digging up the grass to find their families. 

“You can’t even see the names, and if you don’t know where they’re at, it’d be hard to find them,” said Jeff Allen.

“It just breaks my heart to see all this,” said Yolanda Weber.  “I come up here to visit my son, and we end up cleaning instead of visiting, and all the families getting together, we end up going to get mowers.”

It’s the reason Scotty Bowling says they’ve sent in complaints to get something done.

“They’re cutting grass, that’s about it,” said Bowling.

But there’s still more work to do. 

“Plaques and stuff, they’re being covered, there’s no weed eating being done,” Bowling said.

Even if he has to do it himself. 

“I won’t quit until it’s fixed,” said Bowling.