'Let My 11-Year-Old Boy Rest': Thieves Target Grave Of Young Broncos Fan
WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. (CBS4) - Almost any day you could find Melissa Durkee at Mount Olivet Cemetery. It is the only place she can be with her son.
"I bring fresh flowers every day and water areas that need to be watered... This is all I have left now," Melissa said, touching her son's headstone.
Drake Durkee was 11 when he was killed in a tragic commercial rafting accident on the Arkansas River in 2015. His short life is now remembered at the cemetery in Wheat Ridge, usually surrounded in a lot of blue and orange.
"He loved the Broncos," Melissa said of her late son. "Just loved them."
Drake especially loved the team's former wide receiver Demaryius Thomas, and treasured attending the player's football camp in 2014. When DT learned his young fan passed away, he was heartbroken and created a camp award in honor of Drake.
He still keeps in touch with the Durkee family today.
"You know what really touched me, they said they buried him in an 88 jersey," Thomas told CBS4 in 2015, shortly after Drake's death.
Yet Drake's love for all things Broncos seems to have made his grave a target for thieves.
"Here and here we had Broncos footballs," Melissa showed CBS4's Kelly Werthmann at Drake's gravesite. "Little trinkets from his friends were all along here."
Melissa said she first noticed items missing about four months ago. A few weeks later, on one of her daily visits, she realized even more items were missing. Then, last Sunday, she came to visit Drake and everything was gone…taken right from a headstone that reads, "Be kind to one another."
"It's just appalling," Melissa said, holding back tears. "[Drake] would be very disappointed in his fellow Broncos fans, if that's why they're taking the items. He stood for kindness. He didn't tolerate bullying. The fact that this is happening to him now, when he can't defend himself, is just gut-wrenching."
Cemetery staff are very apologetic, Melissa explained, adding they did not clear out her son's gravesite. She said they also offered to have Drake and the family plot moved to another part of the property. Yet the grieving mother doesn't want to disturb her son.
"I don't think people realize how hard it is to bury a child," she said. "And then to have people destroy it is just hurtful on top of hurt."
All the Durkee family wants is for thieves to leave their child's final resting place alone.
"I just want it to stop. I just want them to stop taking things and let my 11-year-old boy rest in peace. That's it," Melissa said.
The Mount Olivet Catholic Cemetery told CBS4 they are aware of the recent theft. They have alerted employees as well as groundskeepers to be extra vigilant, keeping a watchful eye for any suspicious activity. They released a statement, saying in part:
"The cemetery does its best to secure the property at night and has other security measures in place 24 hours a day. Mount Olivet has also reached out to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office to request an increase in patrols in the area. We are extremely saddened that someone would do this and add to the pain of a family who lost a child."
Drake's family created a foundation in his honor aimed at sharing kindness. You can learn more here: http://www.thedrakedurkeefoundation.org/foundation
