Police investigate whether man's legs were severed to fit in coffin

Police in Allendale, South Carolina, are investigating whether a funeral home fit a 6-foot, 5-inch man into his coffin by severing his legs.

A former Cave Funeral Services employee has alleged since James Hines' death from skin cancer in 2004 that Hines was too tall for his coffin and that the funeral home took extreme measures to make him fit, Allendale County Coroner Hayzen Black said.

Officials exhumed Hines' body on Tuesday, Black said, and a fair amount of "undesirable evidence" was found, although he could not comment further.



Allendale Police Detective Donnie Hutto said that he could not comment on the condition of the body. A Cave Funeral Services employee had no comment when asked about the matter.

But Ruth Hines, widow of the dead man, said that the allegations and exhumation of Hines' body are difficult for her. "I'm just going through quite a bit," she said. "It's like starting all over again, and it's left me with hurt and numbness."

"According to the measurements on the casket, and the funeral director, we asked him, 'Was this suitable for his length?' and he said, 'Yes that will be perfect,'" Ruth Hines said.