Woman Suing Cemetery After Being 'Sucked' Into Parents' Grave

A woman who was visiting her parents’ grave in New York was "sucked" into the burial plot, a lawsuit filed against the cemetery claims. Joanne Cullen, 64, said a sinkhole almost swallowed her up when she bent down to fix a bow on a wreath by the headstone.

“It caused her to fall forward and smash her head on the tombstone,” cracking a tooth, her lawyer, Joseph Perrini, told the New York Post. She then tried to “bounce back and she started sinking into the ground and grabbed the sides of the tombstone.

Cullen is now suing St Charles Resurrection Cemetery in New York, run by the Diocese of Brooklyn, for $5 million after the “terrifying” incident, which took place on Dec. 19, 2016. The cemetery was also the final resting place for Oscar-nominated actor Vincent Gardenia and Wimbledon men’s doubles champion Vitas Gerulaitis.

The lawsuit claimed that the North Bellmore, Long Island, woman cried out for help after she was sucked into the grave, but there was no one in the cemetery who could hear her screams.

“Getting sucked into your parents’ grave when you go to visit them on a cool December afternoon with the sun going down … it’s terrifying and traumatizing,” the lawyer said.

The 64-year-old said the chilling incident left her an emotional wreck, and that she "will never go back there again.” Her lawyer said Cullen now fears walking in open fields and “has nightmares” and headaches. According to the lawsuit, the woman now requires counseling that can help her get over the incident.

Perrini argues that gravediggers left an "underground void" that caused a sinkhole to form.

“It’s outrageous that this should happen to anybody,” the attorney said. “We want to make sure the cemetery and employees learn from this. We want to make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else.”