Susanna is determined to find answers as to where her father’s body went (Picture: Susanna Vaughan)
One of Susanna Vaughan’s most treasured possessions is a photograph of her father’s grave in Westbury Cemetery, Barbados.
A humble wooden cross bears his name, Joseph James Alfred Lynch, and date of death, November 20, 2014. In the picture, Susanna crouches in the Caribbean sunshine to place some flowers on his grave. It was a moment of closure, of peace.
Little did she know, the her father’s resting place would be gone by the time she next returned to Barbados. What Susanna hoped would be a ‘lovely summer’ on the sun-drenched island soon turned out to be a ‘holiday from hell.’
Joseph Lynch had moved to Barbados around 25 years ago, after he retired as a police officer. He and his wife, Greta, wanted to enjoy their final years in the sunshine. Before then, they’d lived in Essex where they raised their five children.
‘My dad was a policeman and my mum a hospital matron, so it was quite a disciplined upbringing,‘ Susanna, 62, tells Metro. ‘I went to a convent girls school in Basildon and later trained as a nurse. I got married and had two lovely sons.
‘Life was good, for all of us.’
Susanna’s parents Greta and Joseph Lynch retired in Barbados (Picture: Susanna Vaughan)
However, Joseph fell ill in 2014, with a sudden prostate cancer diagnosis leading to his death on November 20. Susanna was working in the prison service at the time and rushed to catch a flight to Barbados with her brother Roy but, unfortunately, they didn’t make it in time to say goodbye.
Their father’s funeral was held on December 5, 2014. A motorcycle escort had been requested to accompany what the family had imagined was Joseph’s final journey – a ten minute drive from his home on Government Hill to Westbury Cemetery.
Sadly, a slow response from Barbados authorities meant the motorcycle escort could not go ahead. But Joseph’s family, from Essex to America, still came together to celebrate his life with music, food and friends at his funeral.
Over the years, whenever family members visited his grave at Westbury Cemetery, they would leave a memento, such as flowers or a plaque.
In August, 2022 Susanna returned to Barbados once more. She had hoped to come sooner, but the Covid pandemic had limited access to the Caribbean island.
With her husband Brian, she walked over the grass at Westbury Cemetery. Palm trees swayed in the wind as they looked around. However, after several minutes, Susanna realised something was very wrong.
Joseph’s home on Government Hill (right) and his ‘final’ resting place at Westbury Cemetery (Picture: Metro.co.uk)
‘I walked to the exact spot my father was buried. I looked for the wooden cross his grandchildren had made, I looked for the plaque we’d left. But nothing was there,’ she explains.
‘The entire grave was gone. My husband said “are you sure this is the right place?”, I felt like I was going mad. I kept walking to the same spot, but my father wasn’t there.’
Susanna and her husband eventually found a member of staff and received news that left them reeling with shock. After five years, graves at the cemetery were dug up and the bodies moved into a large ‘bone hole’ of bones and body parts.
This concept of ‘recycling’ bodies into a mass grave occurs in countries such as Singapore, Germany and Belgium.
While this is allegedly common practice in Barbados as well, it wasn’t something any of Joseph’s family had been warned about. Local Bajans they spoke to also were unaware of such a tradition.
‘I don’t have the words to explain how I felt when I found out my father was in that bonehole. It was devastating,’ says Susanna. ‘He had wanted to be buried in the place he loved and we’d had so many happy memories in Barbados, but now it’s just a nightmare.
‘Dad used to be a policeman in Dominica, he served his country and this is the respect we got.
‘I’ve taken several photographs and you can see bones, skulls, clothing all sticking out the ground,’ she adds. ‘There is no respect, none at all. Loved ones are dug up, without the families being informed, and thrown into this “bonehole”.’
Susanna took photos of the landfill-esque ‘bonehole’ and is determined no other bodies are moved there (Picture: Susanna Vaughan)
Susanna and her family were not warned about the bonehole situation (Picture: Susanna Vaughan)
After facing ‘closed doors’ in Barbados when she tried to find answers as to why she hadn’t been warned, Susanna returned to the UK.
From her home in Kent, she typed out emails to politicians such as Gillingham North councillor Adam Price and the foreign secretary David Cameron, to spread the word.
For Cllr Price, he felt it his ‘duty’ to help Susanna with her plight. ‘One always remembers the death of a loved parent,’ he tells Metro.
‘For Susanna to have to grieve a second time because of the failure of the authorities in Barbados to communicate their policy of digging up loved ones’ remains after five years is inexcusable.
‘I commend her for championing this cause on behalf of others who have been similarly affected.’
Susanna has also repeatedly reached out to Bajan authorities for an explanation. In a letter from the office of Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, Susanna was offered a ‘sincere apology’ for ‘distress suffered.’
Susanna Vaughan and Councillor Adam Price are working together to raise awareness of the situation
But Susanna wants more than an apology, she wants justice.
She wants the Barbados Government to change the bone hole policy so no other families go through what she has. Doing so would bring them closure, Susanna adds.
Her mother Greta still lives on Barbados – but has no grave to visit for her late husband. The family feel they’ve been forced to grieve ‘all over again.’
‘If we’d known this would have happened, we’d have chosen to cremate my father and taken his ashes back to England,’ says Susanna.
‘I wrote about my situation on Facebook and a huge number of people responded, even Bajans themselves, and said they weren’t aware this happens.
‘People have said that because the island is so small, they don’t have enough space for every grave. I understand that, so give families the option to cremate and explain that this might happen. I was asked if I’d bought a “private plot” for my father and had to explain no, because I didn’t know the difference.
‘The bonehole system discriminates against the poor.
‘When we visited back in 2022, I had been so excited to go and have a “chat” with my father, it had been so long. I thought I was going to Barbados to enjoy a lovely summer, but it turned out to be a holiday from hell.
‘This has been going on for years and I won’t stop until I get answers.’
The Barbados Government, The Barbados High Commission in London and Prime Minister Mia Mottley have been contacted by Metro.co.uk for comment.
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