The couple lived with the corpse of a relative for 6 years to receive his pension

A Kansas couple has been charged with fraudulently obtaining a deceased relative's retirement benefits. They hid his body in their home for more than six years, reports USAToday.

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Lynn and Kirk Ritter, both 61, received more than $216 in benefits from Michael Carroll. Carroll, a retired telecommunications worker, began receiving retirement benefits in 000 and received them until November 2008.

But authorities say Carroll's pacemaker showed he died in 2016 at age 81. Police in Overland Park, a suburb of the Kansas City metropolitan area, did not discover his body until 2022 after Kirk Ritter, his son-in-law, reported his death.

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“Both Lynn Ritter and Kirk Ritter concealed the death of Michael Carroll in order to continue receiving benefits from the Pension and Social Security Administration,” the indictment states.

The pair face one count of wire fraud and two counts of theft of government funds. They are scheduled to appear in federal court on February 2.

Kansas police find Mike Carroll's body 'mummified'

Lynn, Carroll's daughter, was listed as his primary caregiver. Lynn and Kirk Ritter had lived with Carroll in a single-family home in Overland Park since the 1990s. The couple was financially dependent on Carroll.

After his death, the Ritters continued to use Carroll's home as their official residence, according to the indictment. But the couple did not tell authorities about his death at the time. His monthly allowance and pension continued to be paid directly into Carroll's bank account.

Prosecutors say the couple deposited unauthorized checks from Carroll's bank account that were made out to both of them. The couple also transferred funds from Carroll's account to their own bank accounts without permission and used them for personal purposes.

According to the indictment, neither Lynn nor Kyle Ritter were eligible to receive Carroll's benefits. Prosecutors said pensions and Social Security payments Carroll received in the six years after his death totaled $216.

On October 23, 2022, Kirk Ritter contacted the Overland Park Police Department and reported Carroll's death. Law enforcement arrived at their home and found Carroll “lying in bed in a mummified state.”

It was later determined that Carroll died on or around July 1, 2016.

The couple hid the death from other relatives

Family members said the Ritters made multiple excuses for why Carroll was never able to answer the phone or visit them. They thought Carroll was still alive.

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"We were denied contact with him," Carroll's niece Janet Carroll said last year. “And now we know why.”

Police initially investigated the case as a suspicious death, but the county medical examiner later determined Carroll died of natural causes.

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