NC man charged with concealing 94-year-old mother’s death after body found during inspection

NC man arrested after mother’s body found in house

BURLINGTON, N.C. — Authorities have arrested a North Carolina man on charges that he kept the body of his 94-year-old mother in a house for nearly six months.

Police in Burlington said Tuesday that local housing authority inspectors found the body of Lucy Mae Hutchins Wade on Aug. 25. An autopsy by the State Medical Examiner’s office determined that Wade died of natural causes six months ago.

Detectives determined that 50-year-old Don Lee Wade was aware of his mother’s death last March and did nothing about it. They said he gathered her mail, began cashing her Social Security checks and used her bank card.

Wade is charged with concealment of death. He is in the Alamance County jail on a $10,000 secured bond. It wasn’t immediately known if he had an attorney.