Deputies searching for Georgia couple they say stole items from woman’s gravesite

CATOOSA COUNTY, Ga. — Deputies are searching for a North Georgia couple who have been accused of stealing items off a woman’s grave.

Randall Ledford, from Catoosa County, lost his daughter Courtney in a car wreck in February.

Courtney was buried at the Lakewood Memory Gardens South and Randall decorated it with solar lights, flowers, and pictures to honor his daughter.

Ledford told WTVC-TV that he went to watch the 4th of July fireworks from Courtney’s grave when he noticed some things were missing.

“I just want to be here with her she made me the proudest daddy in the world and to think that this guy just comes in here... just helping himself. It’s not right,” Ledford told the TV station.

A member of Ledford’s family caught a man on camera who appeared to be stealing from the grave.

The family member watched as the man got into his car. They said the man then tried to swerve to hit them as the man was driving away, an incident report obtained by the TV station said.

The family gave the photos to the Catoosa County Sheriff’s Office, who then released them on Facebook.

Shortly after the post went up, the sheriff’s office was able to identify the man in the photos.

Chad Knox and Tonya Head now face charges in the case but have not been arrested yet.

UPDATE: The person has been identified and warrants have been issued for his arrest. INFORMATION NEEDED…Please...

Posted by Catoosa County Sheriff's Office on Monday, July 8, 2024

“It’s just heartbreaking really, know somebody’s that low in this world that you got to steal from a gravesite,” Randall said.

The sheriff’s office told WTVC that they have increased patrols around the cemetery.

The managers of Lakewood Memory Gardens South sent the TV station a statement, saying:

“To have this additional kind of heartbreaking action so soon after a death, it makes me so sad for our family.”

The sheriff’s office said Knox and Head were last seen leaving the cemetery in a gold-colored SUV, which may have been a Nissan Murano.