Belk ‘actively working’ to investigate janitor death in Columbia mall bathroom

Belk said it is working to get to the bottom of exactly what happened in an incident in which a janitor died in a bathroom in the department store at Columbiana Centre mall.

Bessie Durham, 63, of Columbia, was found dead Monday night in a bathroom at Columbiana Centre. The woman had last been seen on security footage entering the bathroom the previous Thursday. The Lexington County coroner on Thursday determined that Durham died of natural causes.

Belk officials said in a statement that Durham was in a family bathroom. Family restrooms are the type that offer more privacy than the typical commercial men’s and women’s bathrooms. Columbia Police Deputy Chief Melron Kelly said the door to the family restroom was locked from the inside.

“First and foremost, we send our deepest condolences to the family of Bessie Durham, who was found inside a family restroom at our Columbiana Centre location,” Belk spokeswoman Jessica Rohlik said in a statement. “Ms. Durham provided housekeeping services through her employer, an outside contractor company that provides cleaning services for the store.

“We are actively working to piece together what happened. Meanwhile, we have also made counselors available to associates seeking support.”

According to Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher, Durham was last seen alive on store surveillance cameras entering the bathroom area on Thursday at approximately 7 a.m. and was not seen exiting that area again.

Fisher said foul play was not currently suspected in the case.

The Columbia Police Department is investigating the incident, though Kelly said Wednesday that there were no initial signs of foul play, body trauma or criminal activity.

Employees at Belk notified police they found the body at about the same time as officers responded to a residence in north Columbia on a missing person report, Kelly said. The separate incidents appear to be related, as officers in north Columbia learned the missing woman was last seen at Belk, according to Kelly.