Jon Whiteford had a secret so macabre, that when a Kentucky sheriff’s deputy showed up to question him about it, he pulled out a handgun and killed himself.
According to police, he deep-froze the body of his mother, Faye Whiteford, about three years ago.
They don’t believe he murdered her. According to the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office, she died of natural causes in the spring of 2011 at the age of 96.
There are no charges against Jon Whiteford because he is no longer alive.
But cops want to know what he can’t tell them so they can piece together what happened to Faye Whiteford’s body from the time she died until her remains were discovered this April – tied up in a tarp in the yard of a run-down house.
They have so far painted a picture based on conversations with witnesses and acquaintances that has the
Behind the 8-ball
Faye Whiteford was bedridden in their Science Hill home for the last years of her life, and her son became mired in debt.
He looked after her, but he was also reliant on her Social Security and retirement benefits.
He didn’t want to lose that income when she died, according to the sheriff’s office. As a result, he kept her de*ath hidden and postponed her funeral.
According to the sheriff, he purchased a freezer in which he kept her remains. Talking with him about her was a tough topic.
“We had no idea she had died, and we were too afraid to ask,” Al Fried, one of Jon’s close friends, said.
However, it appears that the two friends discussed the financial implications of her de*ath.
“I guess he was afraid to report that his mom died because of what I said about the funds disappearing,” she said.
Jon Whiteford’s mother’s retirement checks were insufficient to keep him from falling behind the eight ball. The family’s home was foreclosed on.
“He was forced to leave his home around Christmas of 2013,” according to the sheriff’s office.
Whiteford found a house to rent in another county, but it was in disrepair and unfit to live in unless it was repaired.
Officers believe he took his mother’s body to the location. And, because it was a cold winter, it would remain frozen if left outside.
Meanwhile, Whiteford relocated next door to his mother’s former residence, into a house owned by a friend who did not live there.
Inquisitive law officers
Authorities eventually became concerned about his mother’s lack of activity, and a fraud investigation into Social Security benefits was launched.
A deputy decided to question Jon Whiteford on March 29, this year.
Police brought in dogs trained to sniff out human rem*ains three weeks after his suicide, but they found no trace of Faye Whiteford’s b*ody.
During the investigation, detectives came across Jon Whiteford’s rented property and decided to check it out.
A detective discovered a b*ody wrapped in a tarp lying partially under a wooden box at the edge of the driveway. It belonged to Faye Whiteford.
The sheriff’s office is looking for witnesses who can provide answers to many of the questions about what happened to her that her son cannot.
