LEAVENWORTH, Kan. — A headstone that was last seen in 1979 has been found and now the search for the grave site is on.
When a family in Leavenworth dug up the headstone of Magdalena and Adam Schwimm, cemetery historian Jim Claunch was called in to solve the mystery.
“They’re probably mother and son since they were buried together and they’re associated to a Nathan Schwimm, who lived in Leavenworth at that time and who was a gardener,” he said.
He thinks teenagers stole the headstone and hid it somewhere until it was found April 6. That’s been a pretty big problem for the Greenwood Cemetery.
“There are a few like that one that’s still standing and okay, but come back next week and you’ll find a few that have been knocked over,” said Claunch.
Of his 25 years researching cemeteries, Claunch said Greenwood has the worst case of vandalism he’s ever seen.
“I’ve found people golfing, I’ve found baseballs. I even found a shell from a .32 pistol”
It’s luck that the headstone was found. He even has a guess to where it belongs based on the date inscribed on the headstone.
