NC Caregiver Arrested on Warrant While Trying to Marry 83 Y.O. 'Silver Alert' Boyfriend

By Alicia Cruz

theblackurbantimes.com

Police in a North Carolina town became suspicious when a 68-year-old woman and her 83-year-old boyfriend attempted to obtain a marriage license at the Clerk of Court's office in Laurinburg, NC Thursday.

The elderly couple didn't have the proper identification and left to retrieve it. When they returned to the courthouse, a local attorney saw the twosome and thought he recognized the man, Henry Eugene Aiken, from a Silver Alert he read about on Wednesday.

The attorney, Bill Floyd, of Laurinburg told WRAL, "There was a pretty noticeable age discrepancy with the gentleman and the lady he was with. They were applying for a marriage license. I do a lot of elder law work, and it didn't seem like it was a normal situation that was going on."

Floyd tipped off the magistrate who ran a background check on the bride-to-be, Carol Ann O'Cause and found out she was wanted on an outstanding arrest warrant for felonious restraint in another jurisdiction.

Apparently, on Monday O'Cause picked up her boyfriend at the Pinehurst Health care and Rehabilitation Center to go to a doctor's appointment, but the pair never made it to the office. O'Cause is listed as Aiken's caregiver.

Aiken's son, Vaughn Aiken, who lives in Virginia, told WRAL that his father and O'Cause have been in a long-term relationship, but that his father expressed concerns in recent years about how O'Cause was handling "their" finances. The son added that his father told him of some possibly forgery, and, "possibly writing checks," Vaughn Aiken said.

Scotland County police detained the two before turning the lovebirds over to Pinehurst police, who charged O'Cause with one count of false imprisonment. It is not clear if Aiken was the person O'Cause allegedly falsely imprisoned. For the time being, the caregiver is cooling her heels in the Moore County Jail. No word on bond.

Aiken, who suffers from dementia, is now in the custody of the Moore County Department of Social Services.