Channel 9 has reported on problems at Oaklynn Cemetery, including open crypts, exposing bones.
Gwen Tobler's relatives were buried
"Maybe one day I will find my grandparents and my aunt. That would be so exciting just to know where they lay," Tobler said.
VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Photos: Neglected cemetery
The cemetery was established in the 1920s and contains more than 300 graves of mostly African-Americans, including veterans and children.
"It's a lot of people that buried out here," Tobler said.
Channel 9 reported on the cemetery in 2009 when few people knew the cemetery existed.
Some of the overgrowth that hid the cemetery then has been cut back, but 5 of the 6 acres remain untouched.
"I would like to see it kept up, put back the way it was. This is wrong, so I'm trying to do the right thing," Tobler said.
Since 2011, Tobler has helped organized a group of about a dozen people who try to visit the cemetery twice a month to work on cleaning it up.
A local City Council member is also working to establish a nonprofit organization to support the efforts financially, but progress has been slow as vandals continue to raid the site that is already being worn down by nature.
"This is somebody's parents, somebody's child," Tobler said.
The owner of the property is allowing descendants to repair the cemetery, but the city does not have an ordinance requiring him to do it himself.
The Oaklynn Cemetery Association is looking for volunteers to help them continue their work.
WFTV
