By
The Associated Press
A Kansas couple has been accused of fraudulently collecting more than
$215,000
in retirement benefits on behalf of a deceased relative whose body they hid inside their home for six years.
Authorities say Mike Carroll's pacemaker showed he died in 2016, at age 81, but Overland Park police didn't discover his body until 2022, after his son-in-law, Kirk Ritter, called police to report his death in that suburb of Kansas City.
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Prosecutors say Lynn Ritter and Kirk Ritter, both 61, continued spending from Carroll's bank account while his body
was “mummified” on a bed
in the home he owned.
Lynn Ritter is Carroll's daughter.
Family members told the Kansas City Star that the Ritters gave them frequent excuses as to why Carroll could never take phone calls or visit them.
The couple made them believe for years that Carroll was still alive.
The couple is scheduled to appear in federal court on February 2 to face multiple charges.
They did not respond to phone messages and emails from the newspaper, and court documents do not list a defense attorney representing them.
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Prosecutors said the pension and Social Security payments Carroll received during the six years after his death totaled
$216,067
.
But bank records from that time show that Lynn and Kirk Ritter also wrote checks from their bank account and cashed them.