Las Vegas NowThief Helps get Headstone Back to NV Cemetery

Thief Helps get Headstone Back to NV Cemetery

A thief with a guilty conscience has helped get a 19th century headstone back to its original location in a historic northern Nevada cemetery where he stole it more than 30 years ago.

Historians said they pinpointed the site Friday in the Gold Hill Cemetery 25 miles southeast of Reno using photographs the unidentified crook-turned-do-gooder dropped off last month on the doorstep of the Comstock History Center in nearby Virginia City.

The photos depicting the grave marker's original placement were dated 1974, which is believed to be the same year the thief made off with the headstone as a souvenir, said Candace Wheeler, president of the nonprofit Comstock Cemetery Foundation.

The marker itself was abandoned outside the courthouse in Virginia City in 1989 and had been in storage since the photos surfaced.

The headstone was for Mary A.L. Neville, who died April 14, 1872 at the age of 33 during a mining boom around Virginia City.

Wheeler said she believes the thief is the latest in a long line of people who have returned stolen cemetery items from the popular tourist town because of guilty consciences.

"A woman from Oregon returned a headstone because she thought it was responsible for her divorce," she said. "Others felt it was responsible for some curse."

Bert Bedeau, administrator of the Comstock Historic District Commission, said he was surprised and delighted by the news.

"I think somebody was cleaning up their garage and said there's more stuff that needs to go back to the cemetery," Bedeau said of the returned photos. "I hope this encourages more people to bring things back."

Even though criminals have returned stolen headstones in the past, their original locations rarely can be determined because of a lack of records and maps, Wheeler said.

"Stuff like this almost never happens," she said. "The photos were the breakthrough we needed to find the headstone's original location."

Thirty-five such lawbreakers interviewed by Wheeler for a master's thesis were tourists who stole because the rundown condition of local cemeteries led them to believe no one cared if items were carted off, she said.

They eventually returned stolen property with an apology letter after feeling guilty, Wheeler said.

"Sometimes they leave the item outside the tourism office or the police dispatch center," she said. "Most include a business card or an apology letter."

Since major Virginia City-area cemeteries were spruced up and lined by wrought-iron fences five years ago, theft is down 86-percent, Wheeler said.

Nevada cemeteries have been plagued by vandalism and theft for decades. A measure passed by state lawmakers in 2005 made such crimes a felony instead of a misdemeanor.

Wheeler said little is known about Neville other than she had a husband, Thomas. Her headstone features a weeping willow, a poem and splendid engraving, she said.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)