I traveled to SC this past weekend to spend some time with my brother and my mother who had been there since Tuesday afternoon. I've struggled with the reasons I needed to be there not because I doubted the underlying cause, but because there is nothing I can say or do to make either of them feel any better. And that sucks.
Charles was man my mother dated after my father died. He was not good to me. But he was good to my mom and he was close to my brother. Those are the main reasons why I forgave him for just how not good he was to me. 3-5 years ago he was diagnosed with an aortic aneurysm and asked my brother to be executor of his will and estate after he died. Left untreated that diagnosis isn't necessarily a death sentence but it is pretty much a ticking time bomb and you never know when the great hand of the universe might push the red button. A lot of people die from other things before it goes, but his father had died from the same thing, so I suppose there was a sense of fate there. Despite his frailties as a person, he willed all of his assets to SmileTrain, Furman University, Woodruff Library, Adventist Church, BBN radio and Pacific Garden Mission. He asked my brother to make sure his wishes were carried out.
I worried about my brother then. He feels a lot. I used to think that I felt too much because I was a thinker (I. Think. All. The. Time.). But he does more than me. And our coping strategies are simultaneously the same and somehow polar opposite. Bottom line is I knew it would be hard for him to navigate the waters of probate and grieve for Charles effectively. But that was then.
Tuesday morning my brother called me and said he'd randomly found out that Charles had died. No one called or told him even though he's listed every as the emergency contact. He found out by going to the house to check in because he hadn't been able to get him on the phone and hadn't heard from Charles in about a week -- and that was unusual. Stefan and Charles were pretty close. Eventually he found out Charles had died 3-4 days before. He found out a woman that no one knows had signed the death certificate as a member of his family, except Charles had no family. He found out that this woman had the body immediately cremated. She says she threw the ashes around a pond down in the woods at Charles' house. She forged a quit-claim deed of his house and property into her name. She'd also written a Will assigning herself as the executor and forged his estate to herself as well. His signature looks uncannily like that of the notary public who also signed both documents. The notary public turned out to be the woman's daughter. The woman says she was his house cleaner. She's a registered nurse in the state of South Carolina and has two other expired licenses between NJ and Penn.
Her husband runs a home inspector business out of Greenville and boasts "encyclopedic knowledge of the housing industry" as well as offering risk management in brokering. In all "fairness" they claim to be separated, but it's difficult to ignore the potential level of teamwork here. Team Con. Yesterday they installed a gate across Charles' driveway and mounted two big flags on it. One is the American Flag, the other is the famously absurd "Don't Tread On Me" -- I struggle with the symbolism there. This is America.
Everyone who gave any level of shit (bad or good) about Charles (including his lawyer) is baffled, appalled, infuriated, perplexed...etc. We're all upset. My brother and mother especially. Anyone who never knew him couldn't possibly care any less about what has happened. This includes Laurens county police, Lauren's county coroner (may he rot in hell), the county judge, SLED (who have thus far referred us back to Lauren's county police... "Thanks!")...the list goes on....I will say my brother seemed optimistic about the response from the county solicitor. There's hope yet.
Had this happened in Georgia any of us have contacts out the wazoo. An estate lawyer who is a friend of mine has offered what she can. Mainly I wanted to know time frames so that I could try to help Mom and Stefan get their heads around what has happened and what to expect (as in, nothing overnight). An estate in probate can take up to a year when nothing goes wrong. Liken this to that, but add identity theft and (gasp) most likely murder. This could take years. There are at least 2 other instances where she's done the same to others. She's a woman who identifies older individuals who have substantial assets, seem to be socially isolated with little or no family or close friends. She cases them for months. She is meticulous and bold and I'm not afraid to say she is absolutely, without a doubt a dangerous person (only she will ever know how Charles really died). She's a sociopath and she has continued to get away with these things because she's never been challenged by anyone.
Until now. And unfortunately she wronged someone who, despite appearances, did have a family in his life who cared. All of us cared differently, but our feelings are all the same now--we are all pissed--and I believe we will not stop until she's exposed.
