Posted on 05/07/2014 10:02:19 AM PDT by Gamecock
SOMERSET, Ky. — A Kentucky man kept his dead mother in a freezer for three years while spending her Social Security checks, then killed himself as police tried to unravel the mystery of what happened to her, according to the Pulaski County sheriff’s office.
Police suspect that Jon Whiteford dumped the body of his mother, Faye B. Whiteford, who would have been 96 this year, at an empty house after he was forced to move out of the home they had shared.
A detective found the body on April 23, wrapped in a tarp and lying in the yard, according to a news release issued yesterday.
The grim case began to unfold in February, when federal investigators contacted Sheriff Todd Wood for help in locating Faye Whiteford, a retired school teacher, and her son.
The Social Security Administration was paying monthly benefits to Faye Whiteford, but she had not logged a medical claim in her name for about three years — an obvious red flag, given her age.
Federal agents told sheriff’s detectives that Whiteford’s son had access to her finances.
Detectives went to Whiteford’s home in Science Hill, but it was empty.
In early March, police located Jon Whiteford, 59, when he went to the Social Security office in Somerset to apply for benefits in his name.
Whiteford told police that his home had been repossessed and that he had been living in his car.
He also confirmed that his mother was dead, but he refused to say how or when she died or tell them where her body was.
As police investigated, they learned that Jon Whiteford was staying at a house next door to where he had lived with his mother in Science Hill.
A deputy went to the house on March 29 to talk to Whiteford again. As the deputy stood at the door, Whiteford pulled a pistol and killed himself, said Lt. detective Brett Whitaker.
Police kept trying to find out what had happened to Faye Whiteford. They eventually received information suggesting that her son had been trying to rent a house in neighboring Wayne County.
On April 23, Whitaker went to that house, an older structure in need of repair in a rural area.
Whitaker found a tied-up tarpaulin lying in the yard beside the driveway at the house, with Faye Whiteford’s body inside.
The body’s identity was confirmed this week, state police said.
The investigation indicated that Faye Whiteford had been bedridden for several years, and that her son was her primary caregiver and had control of her finances. She didn’t have other close relatives nearby, Whitaker said.
People who knew the family said Whiteford died of natural causes sometime in 2011.
Jon Whiteford decided to continue drawing his mother’s Social Security and retirement benefits, making the “fateful decision” to her body in a freezer until he was forced to move out of their home, according to Wood’s office.
I don’t actually think that type of fraud occurs that often, and when it does it makes headline news.
I wouldn’t have all SSA recipients re-register every 3 years. The cost would be enormous and would probably dwarf any fraud savings.
An audit approach would be more useful. Medical claims are a pretty good indication the person is still alive. At least there is a medical office that has been presented an ID. Auditing SSA recipents who have a history of medical claims that suddenly stops cold turkey would be an excellent audit.
I am surprised he suicided. He probably would have been relatively comfortable in prison.
Boy he really cleaned up well in that obit.
He “passed away suddenly”...
I bet.
and she’ll be thawed out for the next presidential election and vote Dumocrap.
Obit Is Priceless!
He can get you a deal on gum.
The MA pension system does it quite efficiently. Every two years, there's a form that has to be signed and notarized. It's suggested that it be done at the bank where the check is deposited.
I'd be uncomfortable with being tagged for not using my Medicare.
Some “red flag”...the Social Security Administration pays out millions of dollars in benefits each year to recipients who have passed on.
One of the worst examples involved a man in his 60s who passed away. It was discovered that he will still cashing his father’s social security check; the father passed away in 1971, but junior kept collecting his benefits for almost 40 years. SSA never found it odd that they were still paying a monthly check to a beneficiary who was 117 years old.
Do a Google search and you can easily find examples of relatives who collected social security benefits of dead family members for 20 years—or longer.
"Was that wrong? Should I have not done that? I tell you, I gotta plead ignorance on this thing because if anyone had said anything to me at all when I first started here that that sort of thing was frowned upon, you know, ‘cause I've worked in a lot of offices and I tell you people do that all the time."
I guess I'll be hearing from them soon. My mother hasn't been to her useless socialist doctor for about four years.
Memo to self:
If you are going to put mom in a freezer and continue to cash her Social Security checks, cut a deal with a corrupt Medicare doctor first, as the Feds are going to check and see if she is showing up for her checkups.
Thank you, Lexington Herald-Leader!
Figure they let these guys keep on cashing so when the SSA wants to appear vigilant, they can snag a few token dumbasses. Easy to find these morons when need be (selective attention to red flags).
Meanwhile, the fraud keeps on keeping on. The government loves fraud, that’s justification for more money for them to “fight” it, for starters. Destroying the taxpayer’s ability to get ahead in life is high on fedzilla’s bucket list, so no wonder beast.gov freely gives the productive class’s money away to the dead.
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