NEW IBERIA, La. (KLFY)-- Complaints are stacking up against the St. Matthew Cemetery in New Iberia for mismanagement, including remains buried that are no longer there.

In addition to families not being able to locate deceased loved ones, complaints of plots being sold with remains already occupying the space has one church and pastor looking for answers.

Pastor Donald Wright of Star Pilgrim Baptist Church said he's been getting questions and complaints about the mismanagement of burial plots and missing bodies at the St. Matthew Cemetery. He said up until January of last year, his church was unaware they owned a portion of the land the cemetery sits on.

Wright says Star Pilgrim Baptist Church has been under the impression for nearly 50 years that St. Matthew Cemetery belonged to a private owner after the church was informed the land was bought back in 1975. Because of this, Wright says the church has a limited record of people buried before 2023 and have been getting questions on where are their loved ones are located.

"This guy came forward stating that his wife was removed from one place and now cannot find where she's located in the cemetery," Wright said.

Wright said since the beginning of this year, he's received 12 complaints with the most recent involving law enforcement. He's reached out to the Louisiana Cemetery Board, the city's district attorney, and the parish sheriff's office regarding the concerns of the affected families. He alleges the previous groundskeeper is the one who was responsible for burying the bodies and selling plots.

"Ronald Boseman have sold them plots but there are now bodies in those places where the plots have been previously purchased," Wright said.

Efforts to reach Boseman for comment have been unsuccessful.

The director of the Louisiana Cemetery Board, Jerry Sullivan, said St. Matthew Cemetery is currently not registered with the state and has not been for over a decade. Sullivan said his office did receive complaints about an individual selling plots despite not owning the portion of the cemetery where the plots were being sold.

Sullivan said the cemetery board has not started an investigation, but to his knowledge, it has been turned over to the district attorney and the sheriff's office.

Wright says he hopes the families affected can get some answers for their loved ones.

"Where did their money go? That's the main question they're asking me," Wright said. "If we previously paid for all of these plots and they have bodies there already, where's the money? Where did it go? Who are these people with no headstones on these caskets in our loved ones' place?"

Wright says he's been doing his own investigation for the past eight months to try and help families with questions as well as clear the church's name.

Wright says he does not have the answers families are seeking, but he is trying to find them.

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