82-year-old’s body seen ‘sticking out’ of pile of clothes, NC cops say. Woman charged
An 82-year-old’s body was seen “sticking out” from a pile of clothes, sparking an investigation in North Carolina, news outlets reported.
Now, a woman accused of failing to report the man’s death and not being “forthcoming with information” has been charged, the Forest City Police Department told McClatchy News in a June 7 email.
Officers were called May 16 to a report that a person might be dead inside an apartment in Forest City, roughly 65 miles west of Charlotte. While there, police discovered someone’s “head sticking out from under a pile of clothes,” officials wrote.
The deceased man was identified in a WLOS report as 82-year-old Karl Buehner. He was a great-great grandfather and Navy veteran who “enjoyed hunting, fishing and spending time with his family,” according to an obituary on the Clay-Barnette Funeral Home website.
Police believe the 62-year-old woman accused of concealing Buehner’s death recently got to know him. He had died within a day of his body being found, according to officers and WLOS.
“It wasn’t immediately reported,” Capt. Brandon Rothrock told WSOC. “That being said, the manner in which we found him he was covered up in front of the doorway and she hadn’t reported his death.”
The woman was arrested, charged with “concealment of death” and remained in custody as of June 7. Buehner’s cause of death is unknown, and an investigation continues, “pending results from the autopsy,” according to police.
This story was originally published June 7, 2023 at 9:43 AM with the headline "82-year-old’s body seen ‘sticking out’ of pile of clothes, NC cops say. Woman charged."
