On April 8, 2026, Hope R. Corley — the treasurer of Mt. Vernon Missionary Baptist Church, a small congregation in the Iron Station community of Lincoln County, North Carolina — was arrested and charged with one count of embezzlement after a Lincoln County Sheriff's Office investigation revealed she had allegedly diverted approximately $80,000 from the church's single bank account to her personal use between June 2025 and February 2026. Detectives opened the investigation on March 4, 2026, after church leadership reported a significant amount of money missing from the account, and traced a pattern of unauthorized withdrawals and transfers directly to Corley, who as treasurer held sole operational authority over deposits and withdrawals. Corley was booked into the Harven A. Crouse Detention Center on a $50,000 secured bond, with a bail hearing scheduled for April 15, 2026. Mt. Vernon Missionary Baptist Church, which sits beside the historic Mount Vernon Rosenwald School in rural western North Carolina, operates entirely on tithes and offerings from a small longstanding congregation — every dollar Corley allegedly diverted was a dollar taken from repairs, outreach, and community programs her neighbors had placed in the collection plate in good faith.