The family of a South Carolina woman found dead last year in the bathroom of a Belk department store four days after she disappeared is now suing the retailer.
Bessie Durham’s family members and their attorneys held a news conference Tuesday after filing the lawsuit in Richland County District Court, according to CBS affiliate WLTX , the Associated Press and Fox affiliate WACH . The lawsuit comes one year since Durham’s body was discovered.
The 63-year-old janitor was last seen on store surveillance footage entering a bathroom at the Belk location at Columbiana Center near Columbia, South Carolina, around 7 a.m. on Sept. 15, 2022, according to reports. She died of a heart attack shortly thereafter, attorney Chris Hart said, according to the AP.
The lawsuit says Durham — who was employed by KBS, the facility services company contracted to clean the Belk store’s bathrooms — never quit her shift, the AP reported. Durham’s cleaning cart was left outside a locked bathroom door for four days before her body was discovered by store employees on Sept. 19, 2022, the outlet reported, citing the lawsuit. At that time, Durham’s family contacted Colombian police and reported her missing.
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Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher said in a statement to PEOPLE last year that an autopsy found Durham died of natural causes, and the results revealed no signs of foul play. Columbia police also investigated Durham’s death but determined no foul play, the AP reported.
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In its lawsuit, the family claims Belk failed to properly inspect the bathrooms and was negligent by failing to properly supervise the contractor it hired to clean and inspect the bathrooms, according to WACH.
The family also wondered why none of the store’s employees found it odd that Durham’s stroller had been sitting outside the bathroom for days. “They didn’t ask if Bessie was okay. They didn’t ask why this cart didn’t move for four days,” Hart told the AP. “They asked why the bathrooms weren’t cleaned.”
In addition, the family said in their lawsuit that the tragic situation was exacerbated by the store’s policy of locking bathroom doors — a policy that was put in place after a shooting at the mall earlier in 2022, according to WLTX.
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The lawsuit says Durham’s body was significantly decomposed by the time it was found, preventing the family from holding an open-casket funeral, according to the AP and WLTX.
“This family should have had the chance to say goodbye the right way instead of having to sit at a funeral and smell the decomposing body of someone they cared about,” said attorney Justin Bamberg, according to the AP.
Belk did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on the lawsuit.
After Durham’s body was discovered last year, Belk told PEOPLE he was investigating the incident. “First and foremost, we extend our deepest condolences to the family of the housekeeping associate who was employed by KBS, who provides cleaning services at our Columbiana center,” a company spokesperson said.
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“We are currently working with KBS to determine the details of what happened,” the statement said. “We have also made advisors available to Belk and KBS associates seeking support.”
KBS also issued a statement to PEOPLE at the time, saying the company was assisting in the investigation. “KBS extends our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Bessie Durham,” a company spokesperson said.
“We have reached out to the police to support their investigation and cooperate in any way we can,” they added. “KBS provides assistance and services to other members of our team.”
Durham’s family is seeking unspecified punitive damages from Belk in their lawsuit, according to reports.
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