Charity Hooper went looking for her six-year-old daughter's grave at a southeast Kansas City cemetery on October 17, the 12th anniversary of the girl's death, and could not find it. The headstone for Angel, who was killed in a drive-by shooting in 2014, was buried under weeds and overgrown grass at XII Gates Cemetery, and Hooper says she grew dizzy walking in circles trying to locate it.
Hooper eventually found the marker only after clearing grass and weeds away from her aunt's nearby tombstone, according to KMBC. “This is my daughter's tombstone,” Hooper said once she uncovered it. She laid Angel to rest at the cemetery, located at 9500 E. Bannister Road, back in 2014, and she remembers her daughter for her big heart.
A Mother Pushes for Answers
Hooper shared her story on social media this week, and the station's reporting led investigative reporter Matt Flener to the cemetery, where a worker later asked KMBC 9 Investigates to leave the property after the crew interviewed Hooper. KMBC 9 Investigates also tracked down cemetery owner Saundra McFadden-Weaver at her office, where she attributed the overgrowth to weather-related delays and apologized to Hooper directly. McFadden-Weaver said cemetery matters were being handled with the state of Missouri.
By Thursday, the outlet reported seeing mowers working at the cemetery grounds. Hooper said she hopes the mowing continues, and she is organizing her own cleanup at the cemetery this Sunday, October 25, at 10 a.m., inviting others to help tend to the grounds.
Tax Bills and a Dissolved Corporation
Beyond the overgrowth, XII Gates Cemetery is tangled in unresolved financial and corporate questions. Public records reviewed by the same station indicated the cemetery owes nearly $36,000 in overdue tax bills, while FOX4 separately reported the total due on the back-tax bill topped more than $66,000, with $35,607 due in August or the land would be put up for auction. FOX4 reported the current back-tax bill dates to 2020 and that the delinquent land tax sale takes place on the steps of the Jackson County Courthouse.
FOX4's report also noted that XII Gates Memorial Gardens has operated for nearly 25 years, and McFadden-Weaver told the outlet it is her intention to continue owning and serving the cemetery. Separately, KMBC reported that Twelve Gates Incorporated, identified as the cemetery's owner, had been administratively dissolved by the Missouri secretary of state.
What Missouri Law Says About Abandoned Cemeteries
Missouri statute addresses what happens when a cemetery falls into disrepair or ownership questions arise. Under RSMo Section 214.205, a municipality or county that acquires an abandoned cemetery must operate and maintain it as a public cemetery going forward, though the acquiring government is not liable for acts or transactions that occurred before the acquisition, including prior disputes over lot ownership or burial records.
Separately, RSMo Section 214.270 describes a cemetery association as an entity tasked with the preservation, care, maintenance, adornment and administration of a cemetery, governed by a board of directors, and defines a cemetery operator within that statutory framework. For now, the question of who bears responsibility for XII Gates' upkeep and its finances remains tied to the state process McFadden-Weaver referenced, even as Hooper and other families turn to their own hands and mowers this weekend to make sure their loved ones' graves can be found.
