McClure photo St. Francois County Sheriff
FARMINGTON, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri man has been sentenced to probation for hiding his mother’s corpse in a makeshift coffin and wooden vault in a storage shed after she died of what appear to be natural causes.
52-year-old Nicholas McClure, of Farmington, also was ordered to complete 40 hours of community service after pleading guilty last month to abandonment of a corpse.
Farmington police say Nydia McClure’s other children contacted law enforcement on Nov. 14, 2017, after they were unable to contact her.
McClure initially told officers the 85-year-old woman was traveling out of state. When he was questioned again, he said his mother had died on Oct. 15, 2017.
Police say an autopsy showed no signs of foul play. Court documents don’t explain why he hid her death.