ROWAN COUNTY, N.C. — The Rowan County Sheriff's Office has arrested a woman it said didn't report the death of her boyfriend.
Deputies say a hospice nurse called them to the home of 78-year-old James Edward Kurtz on November 28, 2022. The nurse told them Kurtz had been dead long enough for his body to start decomposing. Deputies said Kurtz's live-in girlfriend, 46-year-old Jennifer Elizabeth Ferguson, said he had been with him since the hospice nurse's last visit.
After getting a search warrant, deputies filed charges against Ferguson. She was arrested on Monday, Dec. 12, for a felony count of failure to report a death. Investigators believe she reasonably knew Kurtz had died and did not call to report it.
Ferguson has since been released from jail on a $3,000 secured bond. The investigation remains open pending the results from an autopsy.
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