BOULDER CITY, Nev. -- It's been called egregious misconduct and an affront to all military veterans. The I-Team has uncovered allegations that state employees have been using gravestones from a veteran's cemetery as their own backyard patio.
They say they have done nothing wrong -- that there are no rules stopping them from taking 77 gravestones from the veterans cemetery, many of them still engraved with the names of the fallen.
In their mind, there was nothing to stop them from turning those stones into a patio.
It is the ultimate honor and a final way to so thank you for giving so much. At the Boulder City Veteran's Cemetery, each grave is marked with a memorial, 130 pounds of granite.
Only now, not too far from the cemetery in a Boulder City neighborhood, 77 of those gravestones are not being used as a memorial, but a backyard patio.
With inside information and a fear of retribution, a man we'll call George came forward to blow the whistle to stop this from happening again, "Is it ethically appropriate for two state employees to help themselves to gravestones?"
Those employees are Tami and Kevin Jenicke. Tami works in the veterans home. Her husband, Kevin, actually works at the cemetery where the stones should be.
With the engravings either face down or scraped off, the I-Team wanted to know if the allegations were true.
Tami Jenicke wouldn't say yes, "To our knowledge, we have not done anything wrong," but she wouldn't say no.
"It would appear that the possibility is very, very strong that they are gravestones," said Carole Turner with the Office of Veterans Services.
Turner is one of Tami's bosses in the state Office of Veterans Services. Wednesday she confirmed that those are the stones. Now with the word out, an investigation is underway, "We are taking this very seriously and we will leave no stone unturned."
When the spouse of a veteran passes, husband and wife can be buried together. That means a new stone for both names. Turner never expected anyone to take the old stones home for personal use.
"Reasonable, prudent judgment and common sense should prevail," she said.
Turner has to lean on the rules for proper disposal for old stones. The only problem, "The Nevada Office of Veterans Services does not have a formal policy in place."
That's why the Jenicke's feel the stones were up for grabs. "Everything that we have done has been within the policies that have been explained to us," said Tami.
The federal government sees it differently. The Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington says the gravestones are always government property and that they "cannot be used for any purpose other than to mark the grave of a veteran."
Turner says the Jenicke's actions go against her department's mission, "To serve Nevada veterans in life and to memorialize them in death."
Like an American Flag, the weighty memorials must have an honorable destruction, ensuring that none of them can be seen in the wrong light, not from the sky or from a backyard.
The state Veterans Office says the Jenicke's may face sanctions and disciplinary action. They will return each and every one of the stones, nearly two tons of granite where it shouldn't be.
