Police in Kentucky say a man hid his mother's body in a freezer for three years and cashed her Social Security checks and retirement benefits instead of reporting her death.
"We didn't know she passed away, and we were afraid to ask. ... He wasn't a bad person. It's just that he did one bad thing, and from that one bad thing led to other bad things." (Via WLEX)
WLEX reported in March that police went to a home where Jon Whiteford was staying to question him about his mother. Whiteford shot and killed himself when police arrived.
WKYT reported that suspicion about Whiteford's mother started growing earlier this year. The Social Security Administration asked for a welfare check on Faye Whiteford because she hadn't made a medical claim in the past three years.
According to the reports, Whiteford was interviewed twice in March — once when he went to the local Social Security office and again by detectives with a local police department. Police say Whiteford admitted his mom had died but didn't say how or where she was.
When Whiteford committed suicide later that same month, police still didn't know where his mother's body was, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader. Nearly a month later, police found the body wrapped up in a tarp.
Police believe Whiteford had been keeping his mother's body in a freezer, then put her body in a tarp when his house went into foreclosure in late 2013.
More popular and trending stories
CNN reports the body was positively identified as that of Faye Whiteford, and t The local sheriff's office says it appears she died of natural causes in early 2011 at age 96.
Had he not committed suicide, police say Whiteford would likely have faced charges of Social Security fraud and abusing a corpse.
About the Author
