A 63-year-old worker who passed away in the public bathroom of a South Carolina department store was not found until four days after she had passed away.
According to a report by Fox 29, store cleaner Bessie Durham was found dead on Monday (September 19) in the Belk department store at the Columbiana Center. Her cleaning cart was outside the restroom where she was discovered.
Durham - who worked for outside company KBS contracted to clean the Belk store - was last seen on Thursday at work. Her family filed a missing person report shortly before investigators came across her body.
Columbia Deputy Police Chief Melron Kelly told WIS-TV that authorities are currently working with the Belk store to further investigate Durham's cause of death.
Surveillance camera footage shows her entering the restroom at 7:00AM on Thursday (September 15) but not coming out. The next that was seen of Durham was when her body was found around 8:00PM Monday.
Columbiana Center's Belk store was open as usual during the four days that Durham was missing.
Meanwhile, The Lexington County Coroner's Office has reported that there are no signs that the cleaner was killed or died due to the influence of drugs. An autopsy is scheduled to take place later today (Thursday, September 22) to determine her cause of death.
"We're still working with the store to find out what their process is to closing down the store, inspecting the store and things of that nature," Columbia Deputy Police Chief Kelly said, per Fox 29.
Representatives for Belk have since expressed their "deepest condolences" to Durham's family and explained that they are working with KBS to understand the details surrounding her death.
"First and foremost, we send our deepest condolences to the family of the housekeeping associate who was employed by KBS, which provides cleaning services at our Columbiana Centre location. At this time, we are working with KBS to determine the details around what happened," the store said in a statement to WIS-TV.
They went on to explain that mental health support has been made available to employees: "We have also made counselors available to Belk and KBS associates seeking support."
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