FOUR BODIES DISCOVERED IN TWO COUNTIES

(01/24/2005)
Clarksburg police said two bodies have been found dead early this morning inside a fast-food restaurant.

The bodies of a woman and man who worked at the Hardee's restaurant were found after a friend called police when her friend didn't come home from work.

Police have not indicated a cause of death, but there was no evidence of robbery.

The Hardee's restaurant along US 19 is closed.

The decomposed bodies of a Moundsville couple were found Saturday in a makeshift tomb in the basement of their home.

Authorities say they've issued murder warrants for Harold Mauss, who is currently being held in jail in Belmont County, Ohio. Mauss will be extradited to West Virginia.

Sheriff's Deputy Kevin Cecil says the bodies of Susan and Bill Coester, in their early 60s, were unearthed from a corner of their basement, brick and concrete placed around them.

The bodies had numerous wounds. The state medical examiner's office will determine what those actually were.

No motive has been given, but reports say Mauss may have lived with the Coesters before.