New charges for Caswell funeral director accused of hiding corpses

The state Department of Insurance said Jeremiah Randall Whitt, 40, of Yanceyville, is charged with obtaining property by false pretense.

Whitt, the former funeral home director for Harrelson Funeral Services, which is no longer in service, is accused of failing to return $5,162.01 in excess funds from a life insurance policy to a person's estate in 2019 after burial expenses had been satisfied, officials said. He was arrested on Nov. 30 and was scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday.

In June, Whitt was accused by the Caswell County Sheriff's Office of hiding two corpses on residential property after he was hired to cremate the remains. Authorities were tipped off about a faint odor coming from a residential property and quickly found the bodies.

Investigators said Whitt took money from the families to have the remains cremated but never did the work.

The Department of Insurance also filed charges against Whitt nearly a year ago, saying he tried to obtain payment for services by claiming to have witnessed a document signature of a woman who had been dead for nearly a year.