New management at an old cemetery in Bridgeport says they are ready to regain public trust and put the cemetery's troubled past behind them.
Officials at Bridgeport's Park Cemetery say they're trying to regain the public's trust after years of mismanagement that included criminal offenses.
Park Cemetery has been in the news again recently as families continue to come forward, claiming they can't locate their family members or plots and that headstones still don't match.
The cemetery's former manager, Dale LaPrade, died while awaiting trial for allegedly having old graves dug up for new burials and embezzling more than $60,000 of the cemetery's funds.
But officials say the nonprofit cemetery association has made many positive changes, including improvements to the grounds, organizing the record system, expanding the maintenance of the cemetery, removing dead trees, and clearing new space to create plots for the members of the public to purchase.
They say Park Cemetery Association, a nonprofit entity, is now fully operational and eager for the public to visit.