NORTH CAROLINA -- The permit for a Triad cremation service business is now suspended after authorities made an alarming discovery at one of the employee's residences.
An officer from the City of King received a complaint earlier this year about human remains being found on the property of James Howard Massie, III, an employee of Cremation Services, Inc.
The officer checked out the residence in early February. There the officer observed what appeared to be cremated human remains, along with bone fragments in Massie's trash can, driveway and home.
Massie reportedly told police he was in possession of 93 sets of cremated remains at his home that were taken from the business for disposal.
In response, an order from the State Board of Funeral Services says that the permit of Cremation Services Inc. of Winston-Salem has been suspended and it has to stop operations.
The owner of the crematory, Susanne Blair, says her employee stored the human ashes at his home overnight.
"He took the cremated remains out into the shed to keep them protected. The very next morning he had planned on taking them up to the Blue Ridge Mountains to scatter....When he took them out from the shed, unfortunately, one of the bags had a little tear in it and he left a little stream of cremated remains," said Blair.
The board is scheduled to hold a hearing on the matter in Raleigh and could conclude that one or more violations of the board's laws and regulations have been committed.
That hearing is set for May 10.