A Michigan man has been waiting almost three years for the headstone he ordered for his late wife's grave after the business owner was jailed on drunk driving charges.

Watch Carly Petrus's video report: Husband fights for late wife's headstone after business owner jailed for drunk driving

John Schaldenbrand ordered a custom headstone from Clinton Grove Granite Works in Clinton Township shortly after his wife, Marlene, died in a snowmobile crash in December 2022.

"It's life-shattering," Schaldenbrand said.

After 30 years of marriage, Schaldenbrand is still trying to properly honor his wife with the headstone he paid for but never received.

"We're going on three years since she has passed, and I got nothing but a foundation sitting in a cemetery, it hurts," Schaldenbrand said.

According to the company's website, Jacob Katsock is the sole operator of Clinton Grove Granite Works. After Schaldenbrand placed his order and sent the final payment, communication stopped.

"He had to put in the names, the dates, do his side of finishing the headstone, carving it and then after that I mailed in the final payment and everything went dark," Schaldenbrand said.

The reason for the silence became clear when I discovered Katsock was arrested on January 29, 2025, and convicted of his third OWI (operating while intoxicated) offense, according to the Macomb County Jail website.

"Extremely scary and did not know what to do and when I say scared, again, just because I'm lost, I've never been down this road, I've never worn these shoes, I don't know how to do that and it was angry and it was frustrating," Schaldenbrand said.

Web extra: Man speaks about problems getting his wife's headstone Web extra: Man speaks about problems getting his wife's headstone

When I visited Clinton Grove Granite Works, a sign hung on the door, and no one answered the doorbell. I reached out to Katsock's grandfather, who may be managing the business during Katsock's incarceration, but have not yet received a response.

Katsock's attorney confirmed by phone that several customers have contacted her office with similar situations to Schaldenbrand's.

Katie Grevious with the Better Business Bureau recommends that consumers in similar situations report their experiences to both the BBB and the attorney general's office.

"You know, unfortunately, things like this do happen, and there's really no way to know until it happens. It's very unfortunate, but it's real," Grevious said. "So that we're alerted to these types of issues and we can try to help navigate them and take care of the situation so that not only no other people lose money but if other people are in that same boat, they know to come forward faster and we can try to resolve these issues as best as we can."

Meanwhile, Schaldenbrand remains determined to fulfill his promise to his late wife.

"It is real simple, I want my wife's headstone on her grave, which would mean I need access to that building. I need to get it done or undone. I just want the stone back," Schaldenbrand said. "I owe it to her, I owe it to my boys, I owe it to her mother, to her brothers, to her sisters, I owe it to everybody that loved her in order to be able to have this headstone."

I have also contacted Katsock at the Macomb County Jail and will provide updates as this story develops.

This story was reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

Twenty-eight-year-old Alyssa Patrias has been making her own greeting cards and handing them out to complete strangers since 2020.

Her mother, Sue Cameron, said it started as something to keep her and her daughter, who has Down ayndrome, busy during the pandemic.

"I wouldn't even take her out grocery shopping. She has a compromised immune system, but she would stay in her room and just stay on the computer and watch TV all day," Cameron said.

Now, five years and more than 15,000 cards later, Cameron cannot believe the impact a small gesture like this one continues to have.

"It's just been remarkable. There's been times I cried with people that have just started crying and hugging," Cameron said.

Patrias hands out her homemade cards anywhere and everywhere she goes. She recently passed them out to hospital workers, firefighters, police officers and people at the restaurant she works at.

On Friday, she stopped by her local grocery store.

"I was just grocery shopping and I saw her come up and I was like wow, that's very sweet and I love the art that I see here. It really, really is positive and I feel like we need that nowadays," said a woman who received a card from Patrias.

Cameron said that her daughter can stop making cards any time she wants to, but Patrias says that is not happening any time soon because this is her passion.

"It makes them happy and so it makes me happy," Patrias said.

If you are interested in following the amazing things Patrias is doing with her art, connect to her Facebook page Alyssa's Happy Cards.

Fluoride has been added to our drinking water for decades but soon, the mineral could be dumped due to plans by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to stop the recommendation.

In an age of fluoridated toothpaste and mouth washes, it makes no sense to have it in our water," Kennedy said at a recent press conference.

Citing health risks, Kennedy is urging the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop recommending it.

Related video: HHS, EPA to revisit their recommendations for fluoride in drinking water HHS, EPA to revisit their recommendations for fluoride in drinking water

The Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin says it is the EPA that sets the limits on what is allowed in our water.

What the EPA is going to do is go back and look at these studies that have come out since July of 2024, and were prepared to act based on the science," Zeldin said.

We went through the CDC's database to see what local communities add fluoride to their water. Five water systems in Macomb County do not add fluoride, including Mount Clemens and Romeo.

Seventy-one out of 121 water systems in Oakland County do not add it. That includes Rochester, Oxford, White Lake Township and Waterford Township.

In Wayne County, the database shows fluoride is added to 'all' water systems in the county.

Some residents there are split on Kennedy's recommendation.

Fluoride for sure, we try to remove it from our toothpaste, our deodorant," Ronny Cash said.

He believes removing fluoride from our water could be a good thing.

I have two kids, Roman and Eli, and I tell them every day and I teach them young, no fluoride in your toothpaste, no fluoride in your water and they ask me why all the time and I tell them its very toxic for your body," Cash said.

Thomas Humphrey said he is waiting for more information to come out but mentioned he only drinks water from a filter or bottle.

I just feel better doing it that way," Humphrey said.

Jacob Courser says he is not too worried about fluoride.

I grew up with fluoride treatments as a child. I have fluoride in my toothpaste. Yeah, its not a huge concern to me at this time," Courser said.

The American Dental Association says fluoride is necessary for good oral health, saying "the growing distrust of credible, time-tested, evidence-based science is disheartening."