By Associated Press - Thursday, January 30, 2020

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - An Alabama woman whose body was found in a shallow grave after she went missing from a bar died of an accidental drug overdose, officials said Thursday.

Paighton Houston, 29, of Trussville suffered from morphine and methamphetamine toxicity, Jefferson County Coroner Bill Yates said in a news release.

Houston was last seen Dec. 20 leaving a Birmingham bar with two men. Family members told news outlets she later sent a text to a friend saying she didn’t know who she was with and felt “in trouble.”



Houston’s body, wrapped in sheets, was found buried outside a house in Hueytown on Jan. 3 after days of searches.

Fredrick Hampton, 50, was arrested Wednesday in Cleveland, Ohio, on a charge of abusing a corpse. Authorities believe Hampton and Houston were together before she died, and the house where her body was found belonged to Houston’s relatives.

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