WADESBORO, N.C. (WCNC) -- Two decomposing bodies that were supposed be buried or cremated have been found abandoned at a former funeral home in Anson County.
Members of the local police and fire department suited up in protective gear Wednesday as they removed two corpses from the former F & M McLendon Funeral Home in Wadesboro.
"The investigator that went located two bodies; one inside a casket, the other body a on the table," said Wadesboro Police Chief T.L Spencer
Spencer says until tests can be performed, he cannot say how long the corpses had been left in the building.
Earlier that day, former funeral director Mary McLendon, through her attorney, told a judge the location of another corpse.
Police were called to the funeral home, and upon finding the first body, police requested a search warrant to look through the rest of the building.
Spencer says McLendon never told investigators there was another corpse, which had been left in plain view on a table.
"She didn't say too much after we got here. She just told us the location of one body," said Spencer.
In 2012, the state shut down the funeral home amid complaints from clients that she was accepting payment for service not performed.
McLendon lost her operating license, and deputies discovered three corpses inside the facility that had not been cremated or buried at the time of her eviction.
McLendon went on trial involving one of the cases, and on Wednesday was found guilty of obtaining property by false pretenses. She was sentenced to serve six to 17 months in prison.
"Nobody should go through that-- nobody," said one neighbor who did not want to be identified.
"When it happened the first time, she should have told them, but prolonged evidence against her, she shouldn't have waited to tell them there were more people inside the funeral home."
The woman said she saw McLendon on several occasions at the funeral home over the past two years.
Police say they are working to identify the corpses and notify the affected families.
