Missing South Carolina woman Bessie Durham was recently found dead inside a Belk department store bathroom.
According to WIS News 10, Durham was found dead inside the bathroom of Belk, in Columbiana Mall, by her co-worker on Sept. 19. She had reportedly been deceased for four days when the co-worker discovered her lifeless body.
A report from the coroner’s office indicates that surveillance footage shows Durham entering the bathroom, but she never exited. Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher recently released her autopsy results, which revealed that she died of natural causes. As such, there’s reportedly no indication of foul play.
“She’s [going to] be missed around here,” her neighbor, Theresa Boston, said about the South Carolina woman. “She was a loving person. I hate [what] happened. She loved her kids, [really] bad. She got along with everybody; everybody loved her. Everybody called her mama. She had two little grandkids that used to come over. I remember I would always compliment them because they had bows in their heads.”
She added that she remembered seeing Durham leave her home the day she died. However, Boston was unaware it would be the last time she’d ever see her neighbor.
“My first thought was how could you not know a person was here when their cart is by the bathroom?” she told WIS 10.
Officials from the Belk Department Store said the 63-year-old worked for a company called KBS, which provides cleaning services for both Belk and the entire Columbiana Mall.
Boston continued, saying Belk “should be held accountable.”
“You got a check-in schedule [and] you know when they clock in and clock out. That’s just slack on [their] part, and yes, they should be held accountable,” she said.
The bathroom is reportedly no longer open to the public as it has a white sign taped to the door that says, “Out of Order.”
