UPDATE: Frisco man charged in gravestone case

UPDATE:
Frisco man charged in gravestone case

On April 10, Dare Sheriff’s Investigator Doug Oberbeck charged the suspect in the defacing of gravestones from a Frisco grave site.

Charged with defacing a grave site, a misdemeanor, was Leland Eyre Haller Jr., 59, of Frisco. He was charged on a criminal summons to appear in court in lieu of being arrested.

The very old gravestones were discovered broken in a dumpster at the Frisco Bathhouse on Highway 12 on March 21. With the help of local genealogists and other sleuths, Oberbeck was able to determine that the two gravestones were originally located in a small graveyard near Morris Lane, also in Frisco.

According to a catalog of Dare County cemeteries, the stones belonged to Robert B. Basnett (1831-1896) and Ulethe C. Fulcher (1872-1901), who was apparently his daughter.

“The Dare County Sheriff’s Office wishes to thank the Hatteras Island residents and others that were instrumental in determining the original location of the gravestones,” according to a news release from the office.

Sgt. Doug Oberbeck reports that the Dare County Sheriff’s Office is making progress in solving the case of very old broken gravestones that were found on Friday, March 21, in a dumpster at the Frisco Bathhouse.

The stones came from two graves in Frisco. According to a catalog of Dare County cemeteries, the stones belonged to Robert B. Basnett (1831-1896) and Ulethe C. Fulcher (1872-1901), who was apparently his daughter.

Oberbeck said today that the site of the small cemetery has been located near Morris Lane on the soundside of Highway 12 in Frisco.

The cemetery is on private land, and Oberbeck says people he has interviewed have said the two stones were in place just six months ago.

He says he expects the case to be wrapped up by the end of the week.