ANSON COUNTY, N.C. — An Anson County funeral home is shut down after state investigators revoked its license.
The North Carolina Board of Funeral Service sent the notice of revocation to F & M McLendon Funeral Home in Wadesboro in late March.
According to state officials, the investigation began in November 2010.
That's when Anson County sheriff's deputies went to the funeral home to serve an eviction notice and said instead, they discovered three corpses inside.
State investigators said the funeral home director, Mary McLendon, told them the dates of death were all in the past few weeks.
But an investigation revealed the bodies of Richard Bennett, Willie Mae Odom and Larry Kendall had actually been there for months.
As one investigator testified, "at least one of the bodies were wrapped in black plastic inside the casket without a body tag and [he] noticed an odor."
Richard Bennett's longtime companion, Katherine Ross, told Eyewitness News she had no idea Bennett's body was left unattended for five months.
"It made me feel angry because it wasn't right," Ross said.
Ross said her family held a funeral at McLendon's, and then paid Mary McLendon to cremate Bennett's remains and take them to a cemetery.
But investigators said McLendon never followed through, and Ross said her calls to the home about Bennett's ashes went unreturned.
State officials also investigated five separate complaints where customers alleged they paid McLendon for funeral services or headstones that were never received, nor were they reimbursed.
The officials report concluded McLendon "...embezzled, or fraudulently or knowingly and willingly misapplied, or converted...funeral funds to her own use."
Eyewitness News called McLendon and went to the funeral home Tuesday but was unable to find her.
McLendon did post a statement on Facebook that read, in part, "I love my job as a Public Servant. My composure is kept and right now I'm praying to GOD to show me why this is happening."
State officials said McLendon can seek a new license after one year but must complete education courses and fully reimburse all of the affected families.
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