The

recent examination of Beverley Watson's remains

was concluded in a way that caught more than a

couple of people off guard.

Officials

in Fayette County are wondering why they were not

notified by the Fulton County Medical Examiner's

Office when her bones were released to her

husband, Jim, for final disposition.

funeral home authorized by Jim Watson received

the remains July 27, according to Fulton County

associate medical examiner Dr. Carol Terry. A

spokesman for Lee Sexton, Jim Watson's attorney,

confirmed that Beverley Watson was then cremated.

Neither

Sexton, who is on leave until Aug. 30, nor

Fayette district attorney Bill McBroom, who is on

vacation this week, was available for comment.

Maj.

Terry Mulkey of the Fulton County Police

Department said Monday morning that the case has

been turned over to the Fulton County DA's office

for review.

Beverley

Watson disappeared from her Fayette County home

in 1997. A surveyor in south Fulton County last

March found bones that were later determined to

be her remains.

No

cause of death has been determined, and no one

has officially said that foul play was involved.

The

remains found were only a portion of Watson's

body, Terry said. Specimens were retained in case

additional bones were found, so that they could

be compared and identification could be verified.

After

an examination of this nature is completed, the

medical examiner's office is bound by law to turn

over the remains to the nearest next-of-kin,

especially if that party makes a request for them

to do so, Terry said. She confirmed that Jim

Watson had made such a request.

court order would be required for anyone,

including a law enforcement agency, to have the

body held after the examination, according to

Terry, and there was no such request to her

knowledge.

Maj.

Bruce Jordan, head of the Criminal Investigations

Division of the Fayette County's Sheriff's

Department, was quite surprised at this turn of

events. His office did not even receive a phone

call from the examiner when Watson's body was

released.

"I

found out from friends of Beverley Watson that

they had released the body," said Jordan.

"We had specifically asked them not to. It

was something we considered evidence."

Jordan

added that Fulton County police were as shocked

as he was when this occurred.

Terry

said that she spoke with Jordan and McBroom only

once, right after the discovery was made, and no

arrangements were made to have the body held

after the examination was completed.

Jordan

conceded his disappointment but said the

cremation does not necessarily damage the case,

should it go to trial. He added that there has

been no absolute determination as to where it

would be tried - Fayette or Fulton.

Jim

Watson has never been charged with any crime in

connection with his wife's disappearance, and law

enforcement authorities in Fayette County have

never identified him as a suspect.

Jim

Bischoff, Beverley Watson's attorney, learned

about her cremation Monday morning and said,

"I'm shocked, too."

But

he added that he has no further role in the

outcome of this case, except as "somebody

who represented her and who is going to cooperate

with law enforcement in every way I can."

Just

after her body was discovered, Bischoff turned

over materials to investigators that he said were

pertinent to her case. He would not identify the

materials, but said she had instructed him to

turn them over if anything ever happened to her.

Bischoff

said Beverley Watson left no instructions with

him concerning her final disposition.

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