A Salem man faces multiple felonies in connection to allegedly stealing his uncle’s Social Security and veterans benefits after his death by concealing his body, according to documents filed in Dent County Circuit Court.
Brian K. Ditch, born 1980, is charged in a March 21 complaint with felony counts of stealing – $25,000 or more/teller machine or contents, abandonment of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence in felony prosecution and three counts of unlawful possession of a firearm.
Officers with the Salem Police Department opened an investigation into Ditch after receiving allegations his quadriplegic uncle hadn’t been seen and was last known to be in Ditch’s care at a residence in the 1200 block of North Main Street, according to the case’s probable cause statement.
The statement quotes a witness as saying the uncle was last known to be alive in 2019.
The statement details investigation found the uncle was receiving thousands of dollars of Social Security benefits and veterans benefits each month, and multiple wire transfers equaling $554,853 were sent from the uncle’s bank account to Ditch’s bank account. Ditch is described in the statement as being a convicted felon and not receiving any income into his bank account outside of the transfers.
When initially contacted by officers on March 7, Ditch claimed to not know the whereabouts of his uncle, and that he’d left with a caretaker years before. Ditch said he could not remember the identity of the caretaker. The statement details the investigation found the uncle was not residing in any VA homes and there was no published obituary of his death.
On March 21, the execution of a search warrant of Ditch’s home found the body of his uncle wrapped in garbage bags and hidden in a trash can within a shed. The statement says Ditch declined to speak to officers. It details three firearms were also found in the residence, which Ditch cannot legally possess.