Kansas couple keeps body in home for 6 years to receive pension

Overland Park, Kansas – A couple Kansas She is accused of defrauding a deceased relative of more than $215,000 in retirement benefits and hiding her body in her home for six years.

Authorities say a pacemaker Mike Carroll reported that he died in 2016 at the age of 81, but Overland Park police did not discover his body until 2022. after her son-in-law, Kirk Ritter, called police to report her death in a Kansas City suburb.

Prosecutors explained that Lynn Ritter and Kirk Ritter, both 61, They continued to deposit and spend from Carol’s bank account even while her body was “mummified” in a bed in the house she owned. Lynn Ritter is Carol’s daughter.

Family members told the Kansas City Star that Ritters often gave them Excuses for why Carol can never pick up the phone or visit them When they believe that Carol is still alive.

The couple is scheduled to appear in federal court on Feb. 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.

Prosecutors said Carroll received pension and Social Security payments totaling $216,067 in the six years following his death. But bank records from the time show Lynn and Kirk Ritter wrote checks from their bank accounts and cashed them.