Leslie Gambrel
A Corbin woman was arrested early Tuesday morning on I-75 for allegedly driving intoxicated while transporting a corpse to a local funeral home.
Leslie Gambrel, 36, was taken into custody at 2:23 a.m. Tuesday morning after Corbin Police Officer Mike Bisschop pulled her over for a traffic stop in the northbound lane of I-75 between Exits 25 and 29.
“I observed the above violator traveling north on I-75 for several miles between 30-35 MPH,” the narrative on Gambrel’s arrest citation reads.
“The violator was also swerving from the outside fog line across the center line, into the emergency lane and back.”
Biscchop said Gambrel failed several field sobriety tests. She was taken to Baptist Health Corbin, but refused any chemical tests to determine if she was under the influence of drugs while driving.
Biscchop said Gambrel admitted to taking Klonopin, a prescription anti-anxiety drug, and Percocet, a narcotic pain reliever, prior to driving.
At the time of her arrest, authorities say Gambrel was transporting a corpse to Corbin Funeral Home in a blue 1991 Cadillac Deville funeral coach style vehicle used by the funeral home. Corbin Police Department Public Affairs Officer Rob Jones said the vehicle was not impounded and that someone from the funeral home claimed it following the arrest.
There is some confusion surrounding the incident, and one funeral home official denies Gambrel is an employee or that she was transporting a body at the time.
Brian House, a Licensed Funeral Director and General Manager at Corbin Funeral Home, said he was not aware of Gambrel’s arrest and claimed that she was no longer employee of the funeral home.
“She’s not been there in two weeks. She is no longer an employee,” House said. “She gave her resignation the first of December. She got mad at us.”
House did not give any other details of her departure, but he denied that Gambrel was coming to Corbin Funeral Home with a body, and said there were other funeral homes in the area where she could have been transporting the deceased person.
On Tuesday afternoon, a vehicle matching the description of the one Gambrel was driving, with the same license plate number, was parked on Corbin Funeral Home property.
Gambrel was listed, as of Tuesday morning, on Corbin Funeral Home’s Internet website as its Chief Financial Officer, President, Funeral Director and Embalmer. By Tuesday afternoon, however, her name, photograph and qualifications had been abruptly removed from the website.
Before the information was removed, the website said Gambrel had operated Corbin Funeral Home since October of 2012 for her family.
According to the most recent business filings with the Kentucky Secretary of State’s office, Leslie Gambrel is listed as the current President of Corbin Funeral Home.
Gambrel is the daughter Thomas Gambrel. He is listed in the same business filings as Secretary, Treasurer and Director of the funeral home. House identified Thomas Gambrel as owner of Corbin Funeral Home.
Calls to Thomas Gambrel seeking comment on the arrest went unanswered. Leslie Gambrel is facing charges of first-offense DUI, reckless driving and driving too slow for traffic conditions. She was lodged in the Whitley County Detention Center and released from custody Tuesday morning before noon on a $750 surety bond pending trial.
