A family and the proprietor of a Mesa cemetery who are seeking information about a bronze statue of a deceased relative stolen from a granite foundation last week will have to get answers on their own.
Mesa police have closed the case due to a lack of evidence. The police didn't notify the cemetery or family about that decision, however.
Elisa Krcilek, vice president of Mountain View Funeral Home and Cemetery, told The Arizona Republic on Thursday that groundskeepers arrived at the 30-acre resting grounds on Sept. 17 about 7 a.m. when they discovered the 4-foot statue of Constance Wayland was gone.
Krcilek said whoever stole the statue would have had to put in serious effort to remove it, as it was bolted into the granite base along with glue and a bracket that supported the statue horizontally.
“This thing was solid,” Krcilek said. “There’s no way one person did this by themselves.”
She added that the theft likely took place after 5 p.m. the prior day after the office had closed but before the gate to the cemetery was shut.
Staff members contacted the police and filed a report before calling nearly 60 recycling centers around the Valley to see if any had purchased the bronze statue, or rather, the 87% of it that was made of copper.
None claimed to have purchased such a statue or approached about buying one.
$20,000 and over a year of crafting in Italy
If someone purchased the statue for the copper, the value of the raw material is a fraction of the $20,000 Wayland’s husband, John, paid to commission it after her death in 2013. He died three years later.
Krcilek connected John Wayland with a company called Matthews International, which specializes in memorial projects. She said the company had a partner in Italy that carved a mold of the statue with clay based on a 3D model created through pictures of Constance Wayland. Krcilek said she sent pictures of the mold to the family and had the sculptor make various adjustments if something didn’t look right.
Once approved, a hollow mold was filled with bronze. When that solidified, Krcilek said the statue was polished with attention to a plethora of details such as the eyes, hair and fingernails. Then it was clear-coated in steel.
The process took more than a year.
The statue was shipped from Italy to Pittsburgh before finally arriving in Mesa, where it stood for nearly a decade. Krcilek said John Wayland was buried next to his wife after he died in 2016.
“The amount of work and time and cost that it took us to make this statue — and it will never be the same,” Krcilek said. “Even if I remake it, it’s not going to be the same. That was a one of a kind. And it’s just heartbreaking that the world we live in today has resorted to people stealing from the dead.”
Krcilek said the Waylands' son was devastated to hear the statue of his mother was stolen and was working with her to try to find a solution.
Mesa cemetery has encountered thieves before
It’s not the first time the cemetery experienced thefts of memorial pieces.
Detective Richard Encinas, a spokesperson for the Mesa Police Department, said the funeral home and cemetery reported 36 bronze vases stolen July 20, with each vase valued at about $800. There were no security cameras to capture the incident.
“Both cases have been closed due to a lack of evidence, witnesses, and surveillance footage,” Encinas said.
When told that Mesa police had closed both of its investigations into the thefts, Krcilek said the information was news to her.
“Theft is terrible,” Krcilek said. “But theft of the dead in the cemetery where people come to the most reverent place and visit a loved one that they lost — I just can’t help (but) think that somebody in that position is extremely desperate.”
Krcilek said she’s since purchased eight cameras for both inside and outside the main entrance with others farther in the cemetery grounds. A new 5-foot fence on the entrance wall has ornamental “pointy things” on top.
As for the statue, Krcilek said she would offer a monetary award of some kind — either to whoever took it or to a recycling center that had purchased it — if it meant getting the piece back. Whoever has it is free to leave it at the entrance of the cemetery night or day, masks or no, Krcilek said. She just wants it returned.
“That will restore my faith in humanity,” Krcilek said. “Because I really believe somebody is hurting. Somebody made a choice based on desperation, and desperate people do desperate things. Sometimes they just need to get help.”
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Police end investigation of $20K statue stolen from Mesa cemetery as pleas for its return continue
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