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Craigslist posting reveals Ronnie Van Zant's burial site

Lynyrd Skynyrd lead vocalist's remains were moved after vandalism

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – For more than 10 years, people have wondered where Jacksonville's own Lynyrd Skynyrd front man Ronnie Van Zant was buried.

In 2000, nearly 23 years after Van Zant and guitarist Steve Gaines were laid to rest at Jacksonville Memory Gardens in Orange Park, vandals broke in and disturbed their remains.

Van Zant's resting place was moved after his gravesite was vandalized, but nobody knew where, until now.

SLIDESHOW:  Van Zant's new final resting place

The rock star is buried at Riverside Memorial Park, off Normandy Boulevard on the Westside.

The secret was leaked through Craigslist. A listing name reads: "Two plots with vaults adjacent to the late Ronnie Van Zant."

Channel 4's Ashley Mitchem called the number on Craigslist and spoke with Bryant Cochran, who owns the plots.

"(The plots) were my wife's parents', and they decided to go the crematory route where we was buried, because he passed away last year," Cochran said over the phone.

He lives in Daytona Beach, so he couldn't meet up to show the spots up for grabs, but the listing says it's Unit 1, Lot 22, spaces 3 and 4 next to a grandfather oak tree. He said he used the information he received from the funeral home.

"I used that as a segue to try to sell the lots because it was right next to the people, so I thought, 'OK, somebody might be interested in it just because of that reason,'" Cochran said of why he mentioned Van Zant's burial site in the listing.

Cochran said he's been trying to see the lot for a couple of months now.

"It makes it kind of unique. It's definitely Craigslistable," Cochran said.

The listing claims the value is at $8,780, but Cochran is selling it for $4,000.

For the fans of Lynyrd Skynyrd, the mystery of Van Zant's gravesite location has been solved. Leon Wilkeson, the band's bassist, is buried right across from Van Zant and his family.

Even though Van Zant's body isn't in the Jacksonville Memory Gardens, the cemetery does still have a memorial for him.


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