Wednesday, March 31, 1999
Church says it lacks information on body
Response to lawsuit expected this week
BY EARNEST WINSTON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Officials of Bethel AME Church can neither find the remains of a Westwood woman's mother nor confirm whether the family ever bought a burial plot at Beech Grove Cemetery.
Bethel AME makes the statement in a response, expected to be filed in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court this week to a lawsuit by Rosa Lee Bentley alleging that the church lost Georgia Mae Sneed's remains at the Springfield Township cemetery. A copy of the response was obtained Tuesday by The Cincinnati Enquirer.
Tim Long, Bethel AME's Columbus-based attorney, could not be reached Tuesday to elaborate on the filing.
Robert Newman, Mrs. Bentley's attorney, said the church's “meaningless” response fails to shed any light on how the remains were allegedly misplaced.
Meanwhile, attorneys from both sides will meet with Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Robert Ruehlman on May 19 to set a trial date.
Church officials say in their response that they don't have enough information to confirm Mrs. Bentley's claims that:
• Her family bought a burial plot at Beech Grove for their mother.
• Burial services were held April 6, 1994.
• Cemetery officials told her that her mother would be buried in a freshly dug grave near where the burial services were held.
• In February 1997, the family bought a headstone for their mother and had it delivered to the cemetery.
Bethel AME also denies assertions that a cemetery operator consulted the burial book and discovered that there was no record of Mrs. Bentley's mother's burial site.
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