Suspects in Gerald Ford gravesite vandalism come forward

Two people who allegedly defaced the gravesite of former President Ford and former first lady Betty Ford came forward and are cooperating with authorities, according to The Associated Press. 

Grand Rapids, Mich., police told the AP that their investigation will be turned over to a prosecutor when it is complete. 

{mosads}Earlier surveillance video and photos from the March 27 incident show a young man and a woman kicking skateboards across the gravesite before sitting on top of the concrete structure.

Joel Westphal, deputy director of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library & Museum, told WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids that museum officials are treating the incident as an “extreme act of vandalism.”

“We look upon this site as an important site,” he said. “This is a presidential gravesite, and we’re not happy.”

The site was also defaced last year, according to the TV station. 

Ford, who took over the presidency after former President Nixon resigned, died in 2006. Betty Ford died in 2011.