news-record.com

BURLINGTON (MCT) — Lucy Mae Wade fell and broke her hip and was at her sister's house in Winston-Salem recovering. That's what her son allegedly told staff at the Burlington Housing Authority.

It's the reason they didn't question why they hadn't seen the 94-year-old in several months. Her 50-year-old son, Don Lee Wade, who was her legal representative, continued to pay her rent, fill out her paperwork and take care of her affairs just as he always did.

The staff had no idea that Lucy Mae Wade had been dead on her couch in her apartment for more than six months.

"We would go to the house and check on her and that's what we were told, that she was at her sister's house in Winston-Salem," said Ernest Mangum, executive director of the Burlington Housing Authority. "In a case like that, when we have an authorized person to represent her, we take that information at face value."

There was no reason to question Don Lee Wade about it. He frequently spent time at his mother's apartment on North Ireland Street. He typically assisted her because of her limitations with reading and writing. There wasn't anything that happened that raised any red flags.

"Usually when a body is decomposing that length of time, there is a smell or odor," Mangum said. "Nobody noticed any smell at all. In talking with neighbors, they all thought she was just at her sister's as they were told by the son."

A neighbor told Burlington police that he hadn't seen Lucy Mae Wade since April, according to a search warrant obtained by police. The neighbor, according to the warrant, told authorities that he had seen Don Wade sitting on the front porch at least twice in the past two weeks.

Don Wade was charged Tuesday with concealing his mother's death. He was placed in the Alamance County jail under $10,000 bond. The federal Inspector General's office is also investigating Don Wade because Lucy Mae Wade's Social Security checks were cashed after her death. Her Electronic Benefits Transfer card that enabled her to access food stamps was used.

Don Wade also allegedly continued to collect his mother's mail. He removed newspapers and flyers about upcoming events left by the Burlington Housing Authority, ensuring that items weren't left to accumulate on her front porch, so that there weren't any signs that something was amiss.

Lucy Mae Wade was found Aug. 25 at about 11:45 a.m. On that day, a maintenance worker went to her apartment to do a quarterly inspection of her apartment. Don Lee Wade wasn't at the apartment when the maintenance worker arrived and no one answered when he knocked, so he used his key to access the apartment.

That's when he saw what he "believed to be human remains on the couch in the living room of the residence," according to the search warrant, and called police.

Lucy Mae Wade's body was sent to the state Medical Examiner's office for an autopsy, which determined that Lucy Mae Wade had died from natural causes at least six months earlier.

Police are still trying to determine if Lucy Mae Wade has any other family.