CHICAGO (WLS) — Families grieving the loss of loved ones paid for headstones they didn’t receive.
The ABC7 I-Team is investigating a Chicago-area monument company that some families say caused them even more pain.
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Heartbroken families spoke with the I-Team about their disappointment with a longstanding headstone business they entrusted to commemorate their loved ones. Instead of peace, they’ve encountered unmet commitments, absent memorials, and even errors on a gravestone.
“I am sad,” Takiera Cobb sad. “I cry. I cry a lot.”
Their loved ones passed years ago, but they say they can’t make peace.
“It’s very, very emotional,” Shuntianna McKinnis said.
It’s all because they can’t get tombstones.
“The first name is spelled incorrectly, and the last name is incorrectly,” Edgar Jefferies said.
“I want to make sure that she is put away properly and to say is a complete burial with a headstone on her grave,” Debra Foster said.
Four customers reported to the I-Team that they made payments to Elmo’s Tombstone Service in the Washington Park area, and for periods ranging from 1 to 2.5 years, they’ve faced setbacks, unreturned funds, and in some instances, a complete lack of tombstones.
The Better Business Bureau said the business has been around for 65 years, but now has an F rating for failing to respond to two complaints.
“I feel like with my mother, I feel like getting her tombstone, would bring closure,” Cobb said. “And I can’t, like, really grieve over my mother.”
Cobb said she paid a total of $1,100 hundred dollars about a year and a half ago.
How would you feel if it was your mother? How would you feel if it was your child or your loved one?
Takiera Cobb, contacted I-Team
“I’ve been trying to reach out to nothing, no response, no anything,” Cobb said.
Foster recounted paying $4,000 and provided the I-Team with receipts totaling $2,900, though she lacked documentation for some cash payments. She has been awaiting a tombstone for her niece, also her adopted daughter, for approximately 15 months.
“You don’t have the headstone, give me my money back,” Foster said.
Jeffries said he’s been waiting a year for a spelling correction on his father’s stone. The first name on the tombstone should be spelled “Jimmie” but was instead spelled “Jimmy,” and the last name should be “Jefferies” but was instead spelled “Jiffries.”
“A real big mistake,” Jeffries said.
McKinnis lives in the Houston area and wants a tombstone for her father who died in 2022.
“This is a lot of pain and suffering,” McKinnis said. “Here we are in 2025 and it’s still no tombstone down.”
She says she paid Elmo’s Tombstone a deposit of $1,250 in August of 2023.
“No tombstone. I couldn’t even finish make a payment because they stopped answering the phone,” McKinnis said. “We can’t even grieve correctly because we don’t people don’t know where he is. So yeah, very, very hurtful.”
When the I-Team stopped by Elmo’s Tombstone on a weekday afternoon, the sign said “closed,” but ABC7 still knocked, and then called their phone number.
According to the Illinois Secretary of State, the LLC is under the name Darius Knox. The I-Team gave him all of the consumers’ information, and he sent a statement: “The customers will receive a full refund. I apologize for the delay in resolving the issue and appreciate your patience. I will ensure it is rectified as soon as possible.”
“I don’t understand how somebody don’t have the respect, integrity or responsibility to fulfill the obligation for a deceased person,” Foster said.
“How would you feel if it was your mother?” Cobb said. “How would you feel if it was your child or your loved one?”
The I-Team also found six consumer complaints filed with the Illinois Attorney General. Three of them were from people ABC7 spoke in this report.
The business owner recently called the I-Team again, ensuring that those refunds will be given out shortly.
Consumers should always make sure to research companies on the BBB and do other online searches before doing business with them.
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