Eatonville couple heartbroken after thieves target baby boy's grave

EATONVILLE, Wash. --  Already grieving from the loss of their baby boy, an Eatonville couple is now hurt even more by a heartless thief.

The cemetery is a place where Amber and Dan Palmer can feel close to their baby.

“I sit here and talk,” Amber Palmer said at the gravesite.



Born with rare tumors on his kidney, Karson Palmer only made it three days in this world.

“He’s only been gone for almost a year now,” Dan Palmer said.

When they buried Karson at Eatonville Cemetery, he wasn’t alone.

“He had a dove right there and an angel that lit up at night. I would come and visit them just to see them light up,”

The couple showed Q13 News pictures of the dove and angel on each side of their baby’s grave. At night it would illuminate Karson’s resting place.

The two items are of little value monetarily but sentimentally priceless.

“Come to your senses -- you just stole from a 3-day-old baby that was buried,” Dan said.

And they know of at least three other families targeted by thieves, and hurt in the same way.


“There were multiple ones taken from around here. They (the families) replace them just to have it happen again,” Amber said.

Amber tells Q13 News that she checked with the groundskeeper of the cemetery and says the cemetery is not removing items away from the gravesites. The couple is certain a thief is involved.

The couple says their main objective isn’t to prosecute the person responsible -- they just want their items returned.

“Just give it back and if you could give the other people’s stuff back, that would be great,”

They are now worried about leaving behind other decorations.

“I bring him a Christmas tree. I decorate Halloween. Now I am scared because I don’t want his stuff stolen,” Amber said.

It’s the last thing a couple who had to bury their baby should be worried about.

“Cemeteries are where you leave your loved ones to rest and its violating,” Amber said.

Q13 News was the first to alert police about the thefts. The couple now tells us police have promised to patrol the cemetery.