Mom, son found dead after inheriting $480K gold bar

Arden Dier | Newser staff

(NEWSER) – Good fortune was short-lived for Beverly Giannonatti, 79, and her 57-year-old son, Greg. In October, a cleaning woman found a 25-pound gold bar worth $480,000 in the home of Beverly's late ex-husband in Deer Lodge, Montana. Greg Giannonatti's girlfriend tells the Washington Post it wasn't such a surprise because Greg's father collected gold and coins. The bigger shock came later: The pair vanished just nine days after Beverly picked up the gold bar on Oct. 19. Beverly was seen having lunch with an unknown white man, thought to be in this 50s or 60s, on Oct. 28. That night, Greg was seen speeding away from his home, per the Montana Standard. His car was later found at his late father's house. On Sunday, their bodies were discovered on a private dump site in Powell County along with evidence from an undisclosed crime scene, per the Standard. A second site held evidence of their murders, police say.

Cops haven't said how or when the pair died, but authorities found no sign of a struggle at Beverly and Greg's homes on Nov. 1. Both were locked and their dogs were there. A "hockey puck" of a pot roast was found in a slow cooker at Greg's and the TV was on, reports NBC Montana and the Standard. On Nov. 2, police found Greg's door open with a TV and clothing outside and suspect a burglary was interrupted; they haven't said if the incident is tied to the murders. The Standard reports police questioned David Wayne Nelson, a 53-year-old white man previously convicted of robbery and kidnapping on Monday and say he is a "high person of interest." He was jailed without bail on Monday on a probation violation charge. The gold bar, meanwhile, remains missing. (In Connecticut, police think they've cracked the case about a couple that went missing.)

This article originally appeared on Newser

More from Newser

Newser is a USA TODAY content partner providing general news, commentary and coverage from around the Web. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY.