Dolly Parton's Grave 'Targeted by Thieves' After Funeral, Family Fears Growing

Dolly Parton’s grave could become a target for thieves, a private investigator warns.

The concern comes just days after the music icon was laid to rest at Nashville’s Woodlawn Memorial Park and Mausoleum following her death at 80 on August 25.

Reports emerged shortly after her private burial that memorial vases had allegedly been stolen from several graves at the cemetery.

Parton’s crypt is located inside Woodlawn’s main mausoleum, where she was laid to rest beside her late husband, Carl Thomas Dean.

The couple had been married for nearly 59 years before Dean died in March 2025.

“There are crazy people everywhere,” renowned private investigator Jason Jensen explained to Radar Online.

“We know that grave robbers have done worse over the course of history, and it wouldn’t be the first time somebody tried to open a coffin – or in this case, a crypt in a mausoleum – to see if there is something they could ransack," he added.

Jensen pointed to the infamous 1977 scare involving Elvis Presley, when an alleged plan to steal the singer’s body and demand a ransom was later exposed as a hoax.

“If there was a plot to steal Elvis Presley’s body, it’s easy to say there is a plot to go after Dolly Parton’s remains,” he said.

However, there has been no reported attempt to break into Parton’s crypt.

“They have not done anything here – so far, so good,” a Woodlawn worker said.

Parton’s crypt sits in a visible section of the sprawling cemetery, which is open to the public seven days a week.

Security guards and surveillance cameras reportedly monitor the grounds.

Jensen warned that the "Jolene" singer’s belongings could potentially hold significant value to obsessive collectors or admirers.

“They can break into the mausoleum and raid Dolly’s jewelry or clothes or high heels and make a shrine out of it,” he said.

“Anything belonging to Dolly Parton could be worth millions on the black market. It’s unfortunate – but that’s the reality," he added.

Parton’s family kept her funeral private in accordance with her wishes.

“It was a burial. [She wanted] to be buried beside her husband, and she wanted it very small,” her cousin Richie Owens told Today.

Only a handful of close family members attended the August 28 service.

The memorial for Parton and Dean had already been prepared after the businessman’s death.

Their names appear on the couple’s crypt alongside intertwined wedding rings and the inscription “Married May 30, 1966.”

The memorial also features a mountain landscape, a rustic cabin and a barn, reflecting the Tennessee roots that remained central to the legend’s life and legacy.

Rather than flowers, Owens said Parton would have preferred mourners to support her charitable work.

“She would much rather see people take that $50 they were going to spend on flowers and give it to her Imagination Library,” he said.