FOR his 10th birthday Nicholi Smith told his father he had one wish — to visit the final resting place of his mother, Natalie Dobson, stand by her graveside, and talk to her as he often did when she was alive. But, instead, he left Dovecot Memorial Park and Crematory in tears and with a broken heart because he could not locate her grave.

His father, Rupert Smith, said months of anticipation and excitement quickly turned into sadness last Tuesday when he and his son saw plot markers, which hold the names of the deceased buried at the cemetery, uprooted from the ground and laid in a pile. Beside the pile, a wreath with Dobson’s face lay covered in dirt, but it was not enough to confirm the location of her grave.

The moment captured on a video and posted on social media showed the elder Smith bending down to brush the dirt from the wreath, expressing his disappointment at the state of Dobson’s final resting place. He panned the camera to his son, who turned to him in search of answers, later breaking down in tears when the reality sank in that he would not get to fulfil his only birthday wish.

The video sparked online discussion about the treatment of the deceased. The comment section was also filled with individuals who shared similar experiences when trying to locate their loved ones’ graves.

When contacted, a representative from Dovecot Memorial Park said a response could not be provided because the spokesperson was unavailable.

Smith told the Jamaica Observer that his son planned the visit months ago, making it known a few days after his mother’s funeral on January 17, 2026 that he wanted to return to see her on his birthday.

“He’s a Taurus, so he was not going to forget just like that. He told me, he told his grandmother and his aunt that’s what he wants — to go visit his mom for his birthday. He never said he wanted anything else — no toy, no clothes, nothing — not even a birthday party. He just wanted to go there and be with his mom for the day,” Rupert shared.

He said he felt terrible when he realised they would not be able to pinpoint the exact location of Dobson’s grave, and it broke his heart when his son began to cry, clinging to him for comfort.

“It make me come een like me wah go through the Earth. It mash me up wicked. After I calmed him down, I said, ‘See your mother wreath here, talk to her.’ He hissed his teeth and said he doesn’t want to talk to her that way, he wants to know for sure he is right where her grave is so that he can say, ‘Yes, she is right here.’ He said speaking to the wreath is not her, and it’s just a photo, so he never wanted to do that,” he recounted, his voice filled with emotion as the events of the day came flooding back.

He said it appeared that workmen were constructing new graves in the cemetery and, in the process, took the markers out of the ground and placed them in a pile. He said the wreath was covered in dirt, much of which he brushed off before capturing the video.

“Them nuh care. She is dead, yes, but at least she should die with some respect, because people pay unnu to do that, so she should die with some respect. They can’t just say them done dead and gone so unnu don’t care what happen after the people dem gone. That’s not right,” he added.

He recalled that after they left the cemetery Nicholi was silent for the entire ride home, sadness clouding his face. As soon as they got home he said his son again burst into tears and was inconsolable.

Nicholi told the Sunday Observer that he wanted to visit his mother on his birthday because he missed her.

“I miss her smile, her kindness, and her love,” he shared.

He described Dobson as a good mother, noting that she always took care of him when he was sick and was always there for him.

He said he’d planned to tell his mother that he missed her and loved her when he visited the cemetery, and was sad that he did not get the chance to do so.

“They need to put back the things in the ground so that we can find her and take care of her,” he appealed, adding that he hopes to visit his mother every year for his birthday.

Smith said Dobson was asthmatic and died on December 4, 2025 from a fungal infection reportedly caused by her inhaler. He said she got sick in September after the family returned from a summer visit overseas. Dobson had two children, her son Nicholi and 15-year-old daughter Nichaela, who are both fathered by Smith. She was also a mother figure to Smith’s three other children, two of whom lived with them at the time of her death.

Smith said he and Dobson were together for 22 years, and she had the kindest soul. He said she deserved to be laid to rest with respect.

“She was the best mom ever. She always puts her kids first, and she even takes care of my kids,” he told the Sunday Observer.

“She can’t compare, because in Jamaica a lot of women nah go accept a man that have kids outside the relationship and make them come live with them and take care of them as their own, but she was different from everybody else, trust me,” he said.

He appealed to the owners of the burial ground to handle the remains of loved ones with care, noting that several people reached out to him to share that they had a similar experience when trying to locate their loved ones.

“It’s a business for them, but we are the customers, and so they must know that customers come first. You can’t treat customers that way. People nah go want to do business with you if they know that they have their loved ones and they can’t carry them to you knowing that you are going to do what you are supposed to do so that when they come back they can say, ‘This is where such and such buried,’ ” he said, visibly upset.

“The supervisors need to speak with the grounds people and make them know that it’s not all the time people a guh bury their loved ones and don’t come back. You a guh have people who a guh come back and look for their loved ones, so they have to bear that in mind. You have people who come back and look for their loved ones, and it a guh painful to know that they can’t find them… It’s not supposed to happen that way,” he stressed.

Nicholi Smith stands front and centre, posing for a family photo with (from left) his sister Nichaela Smith, father Rupert Smith, mother Natalie Dobson, (now deceased) and half brother Rupert Smith Jr.

Natalie Dobson (left), now deceased; her son Nicholi Smith (centre); and daughter Nichaela Smithx

Dirt covers a section of a photo of Natalie Dobson, placed on a wreath at Dovecot Memorial Park. x

Natalie Dobson’s grave marker lies discarded among a pile of others, instead of marking her final resting place.

A file photo of a section of Dovecot Memorial Park and Crematorium.

Dovecot Memorial Park is located in Spanish Town, St Catherine.