WASHINGTON, Vt. — Vermont State Police say they’ve charged two people with unlawfully removing the ashes of a dead woman from a grave.
Police spokeswoman Stephanie Dasaro says a probe that began in September with a report of a grave desecration at Maple Hill Cemetery in Washington led police to file charges Wednesday.
Gene Sargeant, 30, of North Waterboro, Maine, and 30-year-old David Mares, Jr., of Barre, Vt., are charged with unauthorized removal of human remains. They were cited into Washington Superior Court on June 1.
Dasaro says a family member of the woman was contacted by an anonymous source, prompting an exhumation of the grave that confirmed the removal of the ashes.
Police aren’t releasing the woman’s name.