SOMERSET, Ky. - A Kentucky man kept his dead mother in a freezer for three years while spending her Social Security checks, then killed himself as police tried to unravel the mystery of what happened to her, according to the Pulaski County sheriff's office.

SOMERSET, Ky. � A Kentucky man kept his dead mother in a freezer for three years while spending her Social Security checks, then killed himself as police tried to unravel the mystery of what happened to her, according to the Pulaski County sheriff�s office.

Police suspect that Jon Whiteford dumped the body of his mother, Faye B. Whiteford, who would have been 96 this year, at an empty house after he was forced to move out of the home they had shared.

A detective found the body on April 23, wrapped in a tarp and lying in the yard, according to a news release issued yesterday.

The grim case began to unfold in February, when federal investigators contacted Sheriff Todd Wood for help in locating Faye Whiteford, a retired school teacher, and her son.

The Social Security Administration was paying monthly benefits to Faye Whiteford, but she had not logged a medical claim in her name for about three years � an obvious red flag, given her age.

Federal agents told sheriff�s detectives that Whiteford�s son had access to her finances.

Detectives went to Whiteford�s home in Science Hill, but it was empty.

In early March, police located Jon Whiteford, 59, when he went to the Social Security office in Somerset to apply for benefits in his name.

Whiteford told police that his home had been repossessed and that he had been living in his car.

He also confirmed that his mother was dead, but he refused to say how or when she died or tell them where her body was.

As police investigated, they learned that Jon Whiteford was staying at a house next door to where he had lived with his mother in Science Hill.

A deputy went to the house on March 29 to talk to Whiteford again. As the deputy stood at the door, Whiteford pulled a pistol and killed himself, said Lt. detective Brett Whitaker.

Police kept trying to find out what had happened to Faye Whiteford. They eventually received information suggesting that her son had been trying to rent a house in neighboring Wayne County.

On April 23, Whitaker went to that house, an older structure in need of repair in a rural area.

Whitaker found a tied-up tarpaulin lying in the yard beside the driveway at the house, with Faye Whiteford�s body inside.

The body�s identity was confirmed this week, state police said.

The investigation indicated that Faye Whiteford had been bedridden for several years, and that her son was her primary caregiver and had control of her finances. She didn�t have other close relatives nearby, Whitaker said.

People who knew the family said Whiteford died of natural causes sometime in 2011.

Jon Whiteford decided to continue drawing his mother�s Social Security and retirement benefits, making the �fateful decision� to her body in a freezer until he was forced to move out of their home, according to Wood�s office.