UPDATE: Sheriff’s Office confirms no criminal activity committed after man with metal detector was confronted for allegedly digging on Woodgate Cemetery – White Lake Cemetery property

ONEIDA COUNTY- No criminal activity has been determined in the wake of a social media post this week that suggested someone was potentially digging and stealing from the Woodgate Cemetery – White Lake Cemetery.

This development was confirmed Thursday morning by the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office.

With that being said, police investigators did confirm that someone was walking through the cemetery property with a metal detector, which aligns with a previous social media post this week by the cemetery, where officials suggested that someone had been caught digging behind a gravestone and had done so throughout the property.

The post, which was published Tuesday afternoon, encouraged family members with a cemetery lot to reach out if anything all of a sudden had gone missing.

We also have reached out to the cemetery through social media for an additional response.

As of this report, the Sheriff’s Office says the case, for now, is closed because no crime was committed. Here is the full statement published on social media by Woodgate Cemetery – White Lake Cemetery:

"Keep your eyes open for this man in your local cemeteries. He was in our cemetery with a metal detector and a shovel going around headstones and all the old graves. He clearly dug in multiple places throughout the cemetery and was on his hands and knees digging behind a gravestone when he was confronted. He gave some lame excuse that his wife lost her ring there, although she wasn’t with him. How she lost a ring a foot underground still baffles me! He said he lives in Frankfort and stated he did not have family in the cemetery. However, he stole all of the change that was left on the stones throughout. If you have family in our cemetery and you are missing anything from on or around your stone, please let us know so we can give you the case number assigned through the Sheriff’s office."

Woodgate Cemetery – White Lake Cemetery image.