North Texas Family Demands Answers After Vietnam Veteran’s Grave Is ‘Lost’ in Cemetery
VALLEY VIEW, Texas — A North Texas family is questioning local cemetery oversight after a search for their grandfather’s final resting place revealed that a historic local cemetery has spent decades operating without complete burial logs.
Jimmy Hadley, 38, recently discovered the government-issued grave marker intended for his grandfather, David Wade Ruby, a decorated Vietnam War veteran who died nearly 29 years ago. However, when Hadley traveled to the New Hope Cemetery in Cooke County to install the stone, he discovered the cemetery board had no definitive records showing exactly where Ruby was buried.
The incident highlights a growing issue among aging, rural burial grounds across the state, where decentralized recordkeeping often clashes with statutory legal requirements. Read the full regional investigative report on CBS News Texas.
A Texas Veteran’s Lost Resting Place
David Wade Ruby was a paratrooper in the U.S. military who served his country for 22 years, earning both a Bronze Star Medal and a Purple Heart during the Vietnam War. Following his death at age 53, he was interred at New Hope Cemetery, a historic burial ground in Valley View with plots dating back to the late 1800s.
While Ruby was buried with a temporary marker, his family’s administrative gap and his wife’s subsequent health challenges meant a permanent headstone was not immediately placed. When Hadley attempted to rectify this decades later, he was shocked by the lack of structural organization.
“I don’t see how you can keep track of people being buried if there’s nothing even there,” Hadley told CBS News Texas.
Systemic Recordkeeping Failures
Dan Alexander, who has served as the president of the New Hope Cemetery board for 35 years, acknowledged to reporters that the site lacks a complete or digitized logging system. According to Alexander, past caretakers who managed individual plots have died, leaving behind only “pieces and patches of logs” recorded manually in a book.
Alexander asserted that he was unaware of any specific laws governing graveyard recordkeeping. He further noted that if the family had acted sooner to install a permanent monument, the location would not have been lost.
However, the state’s legal framework dictates otherwise. Under Section 193.009 of the Texas Health and Safety Code via Justia Law, all individuals in charge of burial premises are legally mandated to maintain comprehensive interment records, including the decedent’s name, date of burial, and the exact plot location.
| Texas Legal Requirements for Cemeteries | Current Status at New Hope Cemetery |
|---|---|
| Mandatory Plot Mapping: Must log the exact location and plot where remains are deposited. | Incomplete: Relying on fragmented, non-digitized historical books. |
| Interment Documentation: Required to log the deceased’s name, age, and burial date. | Deficient: Missing vital geographical coordinates for decades of old graves. |
| Regulatory Oversight: Subject to compliance checks regarding public consumer protections. | Uninformed: Board leadership expressed unfamiliarity with state statutory codes. |
Probing the Dirt for Closure
Determined to find his grandfather, Hadley and his wife cross-referenced old photographs from the funeral to estimate the trajectory of the original plot. Following informal advice, Hadley utilized a metal probe to repeatedly pierce the terrain until hitting a solid object two to three feet beneath the surface.
While Alexander granted the family permission to permanently mount the veteran’s military marker over that specific spot, he noted the designation would remain permanent “unless someone comes up and protests” the plot. Families seeking to check the status of local properties can find regulatory resources through the Texas Historical Commission.
For Hadley, the resolution remains bittersweet, leaving an emotional toll and a lingering shroud of doubt.
“Nobody will ever know if that’s actually where he’s buried,” Hadley said.
