Wake County Sheriff’s deputies recovered four stone grave markers of veterans who served in World War II and in the Vietnam conflict this afternoon.
Shortly after 1 p.m., deputies responded to an illegal dumping call near the 7700 block of Caddy Road, off US 401 South near Ten Ten Road, after a citizen reported seeing the grave markers beside the road, among other debris.
Deputies determined the markers were stolen from gravesites in Wake and Harnett Counties.
The names on the markers and the jurisdictions from which they were stolen are as follows:
- James Arthur Riddle Jr. – Cokesbury United Methodist Church, Harnett County
- Richard Cameron Smith – Cokesbury United Methodist Church, Harnett County
- Willie John Dean – Antioch Baptist Church, Harnett County
- James Elwood Overby – Willow Spring Primitive Baptist Church, Wake County
The Wake County Sheriff’s Office continues to investigate the person or persons responsible for discarding the markers, even though the area is a secluded, wooded area, with no homes nearby.
The Harnett County Sheriff’s Office has been notified of the recovery.
