Some reunions brought immense joy, while others provided tragic closure, but Martha understood that learning the truth always mattered deeply to grieving families.

One late afternoon, Christopher found his mother sitting quietly by the office phone line.

“We cannot solve every case that comes to us, Momma.”

“I know we cannot,” Martha replied softly, adjusting her shawl.

“But every now and then, a late phone call comes through that stops the wrong burial from happening.”

Nearly two years after the cemetery incident, Valerie sent a written letter to Christopher from federal prison.

The unopened envelope sat on Martha’s kitchen table for several days.