NewsCovering Kentucky

Actions

UPDATE: Family says missing grave statue returned

9-12 STOLEN STATUE FATHER PIC5.jpg
9-12 STOLEN STATUE FATHER PIC2.jpg
Posted at 5:52 PM, Sep 12, 2019
and last updated 2019-09-13 18:02:06-04

BELL COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — UPDATE: The family tells LEX 18 that the statue was found and returned!

The family of Edward Phipps is devastated after discovering a statue of was taken from their late father's grave site.

The grave was located in Bell County in Peavely Cemetery on West Highway 190.

His family tells us he dedicated his life to supporting his six children and worked long tough hours as a coal miner, "He was a hard worker, he worked every day, and he worked until his body couldn't work anymore, we lost a great man," says one of Phipp's daughters, Angela Essary.

He's been gone for almost 11 years, and to honor his career as a coal miner his family found a 4 foot tall cement statue of a miner. They placed it at the foot of his grave for almost a decade, but on June 30, his family noticed that statue was missing. They have now filed a police report.

His daughter, Angela Essary says the entire family has been distraught over this crime, and are begging whoever took it to bring it back, "I don't know what could have made them do something so horrific, but please if you can just bring it back, it's part of my dad and it needs to be put back in its rightful place," says Essary.

If you have any information regarding the stolen statue you are asked to contact the Bell County Sheriff's Office, at 606-337-3102 or dispatch at 606-337-6174.