Police use GPS tracking to catch gravesite flower thief
MEMPHIS, Tenn. —The Pocahontas, Arkansas Police Department says it used GPS technology to track down the person who was stealing flowers from graves at a local cemetery.
Pocahontas Police Chief David Edington said over the last few months, they’ve received numerous reports about the thefts of flower arrangements and stuffed animals from the Masonic Cemetery.
Chief Edington said they found the flower thief and some of the stolen items after placing a flower arrangement with a GPS tracker inside the cemetery.
“Somebody called after they realized that those had been taken. So, my detective immediately pulled up to the device, and we were able to track it to a residence,” said Chief Edington.
Photo courtesy of the City of Pocahontas Mayor’s Office Photo courtesy of the City of Pocahontas Mayor’s Office Photo courtesy of the City of Pocahontas Photo courtesy of the City of Pocahontas Photo courtesy of the City of Pocahontas
Chief Edington said the Pocahontas house was filled with flowers, and it appeared the woman living there was taking apart the arrangements to create new arrangements to sell.
“I’ll tell you how many arrangements were in there. It was hard for my detective to even find his GPS device on the arrangement they had put out there, but we were able to identify it and make an arrest,” said Edington.
Katherine Martin, 52, was booked in the Randolph County Jail on a misdemeanor charge of theft of property of less than $1,000.
“We are going to reach out to the sheriff’s department and some others and see if they have any reports as well,” said Chief Edington. “We are not sure if the individual was traveling throughout the county or hitting the cemeteries close to home.”
📲 Download the WREG App today and stay up to date with breaking news and weather.
📧 Sign up for WREG newsletters and have the latest top stories sent right to your inbox.
📡 See more breaking news, local news and weather from WREG.com for Memphis and the Mid-South.
The Pocahontas Police Department is now attempting to locate victims and seek restitution on their behalf.
“It wasn’t something we were getting a report on weekly, but we are just happy to kind of bring some relief to the family members because it was very upsetting to them,” said Edington.
Anyone who had flowers stolen from a grave between December 1 and April 9 is urged to contact the police department at 870-892-9867.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
