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Was $25K not sufficient for a kids’s burial backyard? New questions on Ogles

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A brand new day brings new tales from Congressman Andy Ogles as he makes an attempt to elucidate away a controversial GoFundMe drive.

NewsChannel 5 Investigates first revealed how the Maury County Republican raked in tens of 1000’s of {dollars} following the loss of a kid.

It was presupposed to go for a kids’s burial backyard, however that by no means occurred.

As a substitute of offering NewsChannel 5 with proof of what he did with the cash prematurely of a narrative being printed, Ogles waited till after the story broke, then he went on the assault with an announcement that, in some instances, got here up with model new explanations.

Additional investigation has now found that, opposite to Ogles’ claims that the almost $25,000 given by donors weren’t sufficient to satisfy his dream, he may have bought burial plots for needy households for $1,200 every, and two cemeteries say they had been prepared to work with him.

The questions revolve round a 2014 GoFundMe the place Ogles used a photograph of his stillborn child to gather cash for what he known as Lincoln’s Place.

Lincolns Place GoFundMe.jpeg

gofundme.com

Lincoln’s Place GoFundMe

Do you’ve gotten data for our investigation? E mail us: [email protected]

It was presupposed to be a kids’s “burial backyard” that may “create a spot for Lincoln’s new play associates,” “a life-size statue of Jesus watching over the kids,” together with “benches for households to sit down whereas surrounded by flowers.”

So what did he do with the cash?

NewsChannel 5 Investigates had reached out to Ogles’ workplace for remark and approached the congressman as he left a lunch assembly.

We informed him, “Congressman, this does not must be a narrative should you simply provide some proof it went for a great trigger.”

Ogles later put out the assertion, portraying himself as a sufferer.

“I knew politics may very well be ruthless, however I by no means anticipated it to sink to such disgusting lows as to have a reporter calling round to my shut associates asking concerning the loss of life and burial web site of our beloved son, Lincoln,” the assertion learn.

That declare is fake.

All of the donors with whom NewsChannel 5 spoke reached out to us, we did not name them.

Page 1 of Andy Ogles Statement

The congressman is simply making this up.

Again in 2015, when The Tennessean adopted up on what occurred with the cash, Ogles blamed authorities paperwork for the failure to create a kids’s burial backyard.

“What we discovered over the previous yr as we’ve got been going via this course of is that burials are closely regulated,” he claimed.

Ogles Tennessean story.jpeg

newspapers.com

Ogles’ clarification to The Tennessean in 2015

In truth, there is not any proof that any authorities regulation would stop burial plots from being bought for charitable functions.

So in his newest assertion, Ogles comes up with a brand new story: “What we raised wasn’t sufficient for our unique aim.”

Which made us wish to know: what was the unique aim?

Based on a Fb submit we discovered, Ogles informed donors that he wished to boost sufficient cash to buy 20 burial websites that may very well be donated to households who lose their kids.

Andy Ogles Facebook post.jpg

Fb.com

Andy Ogles Fb web page

NewsChannel 5 Investigates checked with the cemetery the place the Ogles youngster is buried and, in 2014, plots had been promoting for $1,200 every — which means Ogles had sufficient cash to purchase 19 plots, nearly sufficient for 20.

Cemetery supervisor William Puckett mentioned he supplied to work with the household to make their dream come true.

“We may have began out with what was cheap and labored up from there,” Puckett informed NewsChannel 5 Investigates.

Nonetheless, he mentioned, Andy Ogles by no means returned to work out the plan.

Funeral director Pam Stephens with Williamson Memorial Gardens mentioned “there may be completely no cemetery, given area obtainable, that may not have labored with them.”

“Again at the moment, we may have helped them do one thing, however they by no means got here again to us,” she added.

Nonetheless, the embattled congressman, who has made up tales about his resume, now asks folks to belief him and his new story that “the aim developed from a memorial to direct monetary assist for households masking the price of funeral bills and different wants for his or her kids as alternatives to assist arose.”

Ogles has not supplied any proof that what he’s saying is true.

Following the discharge of that assertion, NewsChannel 5 texted Ogles reminding him that we welcomed the possibility to see his receipts, to let him present that the cash folks gave him out of sympathy actually did go for a great trigger.

We by no means heard again.

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