PONCHATOULA — A Ponchatoula woman was arrested after Tangipahoa Parish deputies investigated financial discrepancies and unauthorized check signings associated with managing a local cemetery. Deputies are still searching for her son, who also allegedly participated in the crimes.

Carla Wittie, 62, was booked into the Tangipahoa Parish Jail on 13 counts of principal to forgery. Her son, Christopher Wittie, 35, has a warrant for the same 13 counts and warrants for other unrelated charges.

In March, the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office began investigating complaints and reports of suspected financial mismanagement of Sand Hill Cemetery in Ponchatoula. 

After examining records, deputies said that Carla and Christopher Wittie were misappropriating funds in their management of the cemetery. The elder Wittie allowed her son to write "more than a dozen checks totaling more than $2,200 on her behalf without proper authorization from the cemetery’s board of directors," deputies said.

Warrants were obtained for both of their arrests and Carla Wittie was taken into custody on July 11.