NC board to hold hearing on body left in hearse

RALEIGH, NC (AP) — The board that regulates the funeral business in North Carolina will hold a hearing about the mortuary that stored a decomposing body in a hearse for nine days.

Multiple media outlets reported the North Carolina Board of Funeral Service voted Wednesday to hold a hearing to determine if the David B. Lawson Mortuary violated the law or the agency’s rules. Graham police discovered the body of 37-year-old Linda Walton of Carrboro on Aug. 20 in a hearse behind the mortuary in Graham.

Board director Paul Harris says the hearing likely will be held in a couple of months. The Herald-Sun of Durham reported that Lawson told the agency he didn’t have anywhere to store the body while he waited for permission to cremate it.

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