OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — A Kansas couple has been charged with fraudulently accumulating greater than $215,000 in retirement advantages on behalf of a lifeless relative whereas they hid his physique inside their house for six years.
Authorities say Mike Carroll’s pacemaker confirmed that he died in 2016 at age 81, however Overland Park police didn’t uncover his physique till 2022 after his son-in-law, Kirk Ritter, known as police to report his demise within the Kansas Metropolis suburb.
Prosecutors say Lynn Ritter and Kirk Ritter, each 61, continued depositing and spending from Carroll’s checking account even whereas his physique grew to become “mummified” on a mattress within the house he owned. Lynn Ritter is Carroll’s daughter.
Members of the family advised the Kansas Metropolis Star that the Ritters would repeatedly give them excuses about why Carroll might by no means take a telephone name or go to whereas main them to imagine that Carroll was nonetheless alive.
The couple is because of seem in federal courtroom to face a number of expenses on Feb. 2. They didn’t reply to telephone and e-mail messages from the newspaper, and courtroom paperwork don’t checklist a protection lawyer representing them.
Prosecutors stated the pension and Social Safety funds Carroll acquired over the six years after his demise totaled $216,067. However financial institution information from that point confirmed checks being written from his checking account and cashed by Lynn and Kirk Ritter.