hit in pleasantville, galloway township and that's where we find nbc 10 jersey shore reporter ted greenburg tonight. ted? >> reporter: yeah, jim, this is one of the cemeteries that was hit. you can see how the metal decorative railings are now missing from some of the burial plots. police say how they ended up recovering the stolen items was definitely unexpected. the challenge facing the police detective antonio -- >> it's unbelievable. >> reporter: -- is matching all of these to the final resting spots from which they were stolen. >> we're trying to figure out where it all belongs. >> reporter: hundreds of decorative railings, engraved stones and other items, some more than a century old. he spotted them yesterday while off-duty outside the home of local antiques dealer bruce dually. >> i was accumulating my inventory to find out what i actually had. >> reporter: police say they've arrested a man and woman who sold it all to dooley's shop over the past couple months. the pair allegedly stole the items from egg harbor city cemetery and two others in pleasantville and galloway township. >>

in ocean city, i'm ted greenburg, nbc 10 news. >>> excessive heat and humidity forced schools across our area to send students home early today. for some districts this is the third day in a row of getting out at lunchtime. one new jersey student told us even with fans on, he found it really hard to concentrate. >> if it was a full day, it would be even hotter. i would have brought four water bottles instead of the three i drank already. >> students will not have to make up the lost classroom time. >>> plan ahead for the extreme heat this weekend with the nbc 10 app. it's a free download, and also this weekend's forecast right on your phone. >>> a young woman is murdered inside her trenton apartment. police went to the apartment on spring street just before noon today. and they found 20-year-old kayuna hughey shot to death. friends and family and neighbors gathered outside the home. there's no motive or a suspect. >>> hillary clinton plans to mark 15 years since the september 11th attacks with a stop at ground zero. clinton's not expected to make any public comments. but wanted to ho

ted greenburg is live in atlantic city with her story. ted? >> reporter: denise, in the 95-year history of the miss america pageant, there has never been an openly gay contestant until now. and erin o'flaherty is proud to be that person. >> it's certainly overwhelming for me on a personal level. >> reporter: it seems everybody wants to talk with erin o'flaherty about how she's making history at the miss america pageant as its first open lesbian contestant. >> i'm happy to stand here as a representative for the lgbt community. so proud of what this represents for our community. and breaking the ceiling. i hope i can make more history as miss america. >> reporter: o'flaherty is representing the show-me state as miss missouri 2016. >> missouri tends to be a more comfo conservative state, but i think it speaks to what we're ready for opening our arms and accept people as who they are. >> the miss america organization has chosen to take the high ground and welcome miss missouri into the pageant i think is outstanding. >> reporter: she began coming

nbc 10's ted greenburg is live in ocean city for us. >> big weekend down there, right, ted? >> reporter: it certainly is, jim and rosemary. and it has been a hot and steamy beach day. even here right along the coast. you can see no shortage of people. these guys playing a little paddle ball right now. in some communities, though, there's a lot less beach than there was just a week ago. on this post-labor day friday, mario and debbie orlando of marlton found some relief from the late season heat, along the surf in beach haven. >> actually, i thought it would be hotter than it was. with the breeze it's pretty nice. >> reporter: they also discovered a much smaller and more rugged beach after waves fueled by hermine washed away a lot of sand last weekend. the erosion coming soon after a major beach protection and replenishment project here. >> it was much lighter. >> we were down here in late june. this beach was completely flat. you didn't walk at an angle at all. now you can see there's a big difference. >> reporter: another noticeable difference, bigger crowds after labor day

ted greenburg is live with more on this. ted? >> reporter: rosemary, many of the plots here are surrounded by the decorative railings and posts. but you can see how some of them are now gone. and police need help to get them back where they belong. police detective antonio pineti has his hands full, with decorative railings and all items stolen from the dead. >> this is horrible. >> reporter: he worked to catalog the items that filled up three trailers. one day after he spotted them while off-duty outside the home of local antiques dealer bruce dually. >> i was accumulating my inventory to find out what i actually had. >> reporter: police say a man and woman sold all of this to dually's shop since late june. the pair allegedly stole the items, some more than a century old, from egg harbor city cemetery, and two others in pleasantville, and galloway township. >> i can't imagine stealing off people's grave tops. >> reporter: dually said he paid at least $3,500 for the items but insists he had no idea they were stolen. >> we checked

ted greenburg is live in atlantic city with more on that contestant's personal story. ted? >> reporter: jackie, her name is erin o'flaherty, representing the state of missouri here. she is being embraced by both the pageant and her fellow contestants. >> i am very proud. >> reporter: erin said all the attention she's getting at the mid america pageant is personally overwhelming. >> i'm happy to stand here as a representative for the lgbt community. so proud of what this represents for our community and breaking the feeling. >> reporter: o'flaherty, miss missouri, 2016, is the first openly lesbian contestant in a national pageant's 95-year history. >> i do recognize that i have a responsibility to -- for the lgbt to be visible in this capacity. i'm just trying to take that on and understand that this is bigger than me. and this can help so many other people than me. >> reporter: at nearly 24 years old, she came out when she was 18. >> i don't know if it's actually hit me yet. every day i receive messages at the end of the day when i have a chance to look at my phone and they