Police: N.C. woman wanted after body found in freezer ID'd
GOLDSBORO, N.C. -- Police in North Carolina are looking for a woman whose mother's body was found in a freezer that the woman sold to a neighbor.
Marcella Jean Lee, 56, of Goldsboro is being sought on a charge of failure to report the death, media outlets reported.
An autopsy revealed no signs of foul play in the death of 75-year-old Arma Ann Roush, who lived with her daughter. Roush was last seen in August.
Police said the neighbor bought the freezer from Lee for $30. It was taped shut and Lee apparently told the neighbor the items inside were for a Sunday school project.
According to the neighbor, the daughter was moving out of state and told her not to open the freezer, which she referred to as a time capsule, until church members could come by and collect the contents inside.
Weeks after the purchase, no one had come for the items, so the neighbor opened the freezer and discovered Roush's remains.
She then called 911 after seeing the contents of the freezer, reports CBS affiliate WNCN.
"I have a serious problem. My neighbor sold me a deep freezer. I just opened it and there's a body in there I think," the woman told the 911 dispatcher. "I am freaking out."
The neighbor told the station that she believed it was the body of the neighbor's elderly mother inside the freezer.
"She sold me her frozen mother for $30. How do you do something like that?" she asked.
The investigation is still ongoing and more charges are expected, police say.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 919-735-2255 or text at 919-222-4230.