HAINES CITY, Fla. — A Plant City woman, with the help of the Haines City Clerk, was able to find her baby brother's grave who has been dead for 50 years.
Veronica Bermudes went into Haines City City Hall looking for answers in the search for Ricardo H. Dimas' burial plot. Her little brother died when she was only 5 years old back in 1973, the city said in a news release.
Growing up, Bermudes said she heard stories from her father about where her brother was buried. Her family would visit Forrest Hill Cemetery to pay their respects although her brother was buried in an unmarked grave. It wasn't until 2009 when Burmudes lost her father and his home burned down in a fire that she became determined to find her younger brother's grave site.
It was all she had of her family's history, City Clerk Sharon Lauther said.
City Clerk officials were unable to find the records of Burmudes' brother's burial which prompted Burmudes to obtain a death certificate to show he was, indeed, buried in Haines City. Lauther was then able to speak with the funeral home listed, which confirmed the burial, however, there was no documentation.
Now at what seemed like a dead end, Laugher wasn't sure how to help Burmudes in the search for her brother's grave's location. The only thing Burmudes had was photos her parents took kneeling at the grave site.
That's when City Clerk employees were able to zoom in on the photo to see the surrounding headstones to pinpoint a location, the city of Haines City said.
"What started out as a project that we didn’t think we could do had a happy ending," Lauther said in a statement about her team’s ability to find the grave. "The tears shed by the family were happy tears."
Clerk officials confirmed the surrounding headstones and located a possible spot, but records showed the area was marked empty and the burial was never recorded with the county, Lauther explained. A deeper search conducted by cemetery employees ended up showing a body was in the location.
It took two weeks to find the burial location. Now, Burmudes plans to have a memorial service to honor her little brother Sunday, July 16 at the grave site.
