Life
Parents hide camera at sons grave to catch thief
They were devastated to watch the footage.
Catherine Marucci
10.03.19

Losing a loved one is one of the toughest experiences people go through in life. Different people deal with their grief in different ways. However, most hold a deceased personโ€™s grave as a sacred place to visit and remember their memory.

Jacob and Tashanna Armstrong, an Oklahoma couple who recently lost their son, are among the many who do. However, their mourning was disturbed by the mysterious disappearance of the little mementos they were leaving on their sonโ€™s grave.

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The case of the missing mementos

The Armstrongsโ€™ baby boy, McKade, died at birth. To deal with the tragic loss, the mourning couple often visits his grave to leave toys, trinkets, and other tokens of love. While the things theyโ€™re leaving may not be that valuable to most people, they certainly meant a lot for Jacob and Tashanna.

Thatโ€™s why they were upset when they realized that someone was stealing the pinwheels and trinkets from their sonโ€™s grave. To find out who was behind it, Jacob decided to install a small camera hidden in the bushes just a few steps away from their baby boyโ€™s resting place.


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Sure enough, the camera was able to capture two suspicious figures who were lurking around the grave. Unfortunately, the hidden cameraโ€™s initial position prevented the couple from seeing the peopleโ€™s faces.

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So, Jacob decided to reset the camera to get a better view of the people who were stealing the items that the couple were leaving behind. Watching the footage from this new angle, the couple caught one man red-handed, picking up a pinwheel off the grave.

They then brought the footage to their local police department.

To catch a thief

Lucky for them, the departmentโ€™s Deputy Chief James Logsdon was more than willing to catch the culprit. Apparently, his own sister, who was stillborn, is buried near the coupleโ€™s son.

He told Inside Edition:

โ€œIt would be hard to find a more defenseless victim than someone buried out here.โ€


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After the suspectโ€™s photos were published in the local paper, the man was eventually identified as Alfred Boyer. The 77-year-old man has since been arrested and charged with petty larceny.

Wanting to confront the man, Jacob and Tashanna worked with Inside Edition to track Alfred down. In the end, he was apologetic for the theft and said that it wasnโ€™t a thing he usually did.

Stealing from the dead

Stealing from someone as defenseless as the dead is a very unethical thing to do, and it can be understandably upsetting for the loved ones of the deceased.

Unfortunately, it does happen. The Armstrongs arenโ€™t alone in their experience.


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A similar thing happened with the parents of a deceased 14-month-old baby, Hayden Cole Sheridan, buried in an Ohio cemetery.

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The boy died back in 2007, and his parents had begun noticing how things would often go missing from his grave. The police were eventually contacted by the parents reporting instances of lights and toys being stolen from their sonโ€™s grave. After setting up a camera near the site, the police caught Frieda Kay Shade.

The woman defended herself, saying she only picked up the toys to prevent a loose dog from destroying them. Still, she was served a summons for petty theft.

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