Background: A section of Andrea Circle in Paintsville, Kentucky (Google Maps). Inset: John Carroll (Big Sandy Regional Detention Center).
A man in Kentucky who told family members his mother had died a week before and was still in her bed was found at a Buffalo Wild Wings, according to authorities, who said the victim had actually been dead four months.
John Carroll, 56, faces charges including abuse of a corpse, failure of a person to report the death of a person, and criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree, according to jail records reviewed by Law&Crime. He is in the Big Sandy Regional Detention Center.
The victim was identified by regional Fox affiliate WDKY as Patty Carroll. Her age is unclear.
On Oct. 17, the defendant was reportedly involved in a crash. Family members reported to authorities that he had stated his mother had died about a week earlier and was still in her bed.
The family members asked for a welfare check, and on Oct. 19, the Paintsville Police Department responded to a home on Andrea Circle in Paintsville, Kentucky, a city about 115 miles east of Lexington.
Officers said they found Patty Carroll's body significantly decomposed in her bed. She had apparently not been dead for just a week, but rather more than four months.
Her cause of death has not yet been released.
John Carroll was apparently his mother's primary caregiver. On Monday, as her remains lay in her bed for the fourth consecutive month, the defendant was at a Buffalo Wild Wings location.
Police responded to the restaurant, arrested him and placed him in jail. They said the investigation is ongoing and additional charges could be filed against the defendant.