Buyer found for Morley, Sikeston cemeteries

Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon's office has finalized a deal that will put three area cemeteries under new ownership while fulfilling obligations to victims of mismanagement, Nixon's office said in a news release Thursday.

Under the deal, Birk Enterprises of Jackson, owned by Dale Birk, will buy three area cemeteries: the Forest Hill Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Morley and the Memorial Park and Garden of Memories cemeteries in Sikeston. The purchase amount was not disclosed.

The cemeteries were taken over by the Scott County and Sikeston governments in March under a court order, and those governments have been awaiting the deal since.