TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (WIAT) - Employees at Atlas Welding were in for a spine-tingling surprise when they discovered two tombstones from the 1800's while doing drainage work on the property. The strange twist is that workers started the drainage project back in March and there was no sign of the tombstones. Co-owner of Atlas Welding, James Cain, says there's no way the markers could have been on the property for an extended period of time because they would have been destroyed by the heavy machinery or found by workers.
"This is no ancient burial ground," Cain laughs. The business is completely fenced in, and not accessible afterhours. Cain believes the only probable solution, as crazy as it sounds, is that the tombstones must have fallen from the sky.
The Greensboro Avenue business was less than two miles away from the direct path of the April 27th tornado that devastated Tuscaloosa. Cain says the building only suffered some minor damage with building debris and trees down on the property, but he believes the tornado must have left the heavy slabs behind.
Cain contacted Tuscaloosa's EMA director to find out if there were any cemeteries near his business that could be missing the tombstones. He was directed to a cemetary in Ralph, Alabama, anywhere from 12 to 15 miles away.
Volunteer Tim King has been working for months to restore the Wesley Chapel Cemetery in Ralph which took a direct hit in the April storms. King says with the help of some friends, he managed to restore the cemetery about a month ago.
"Only four headstones were still standing,"King explains, "You had headstones weighing anywhere from 20 pounds to just under a ton that were blown 5 to 25 feet."
King says the cemetery is still missing two headstones that he could not locate. He visited Atlas Welding earlier this week to see if the markers there matched the ones missing at Wesley Chapel. King took pictures of the markers and plans to investigate further to see if they match the ones missing. King says the markers found at Atlas Welding are the right size, material, and age to belong in the cemetery just outside of Fosters.
