Mom’s body is found stuffed down manhole four years after she vanished as SON is arrested
A MAN has been arrested after the body of his mother was found stuffed into a manhole four years after she went missing.
Sylvia Frens, 82, was reported missing by her daughter in 2018.
During the initial investigation, police officers searched her home in Grand Junction, Colorado, and discovered a foul odor and a large brown stain on her bedroom floor.
The stain was tested for blood but returned negative.
Shortly after, her son Richard Vandervelde, 54, was allegedly seen driving his mother's car in Missouri.
Prosecutors claim that when he was pulled over, he lied about his identity and later told police Frens was in California visiting a friend.
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Investigators also allege that Vandervelde used his mother's debit cards and withdrew over $10,000 from her bank account, ABC 9 reported.
When police asked him about the card usage, Vandervelde allegedly said that his mother authorized him to use it.
But there was no sign of Frens for years until April 26 of this year when the current owners of her former home called the police after they found a trash bag inside a manhole on the property.
Frens was identified as the deceased by DNA testing.
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Court records described the manhole the body was found in as "six-foot deep," reported.
The autopsy revealed that Frens died from multiple blows to the head.
Police said that Vandervelde lived with Frens when she was reported missing, the reported.
Vandervelde, 54, is now facing multiple charges, including first-degree murder, tampering with a deceased human body, crimes against at-risk adults, fraud-identity theft, theft of $5,000-$20,000, motor vehicle theft, and abuse of a corpse, reports.
Vandervelde was found in Florida and sent back to Colorado for trial. He is being held on a $1million bond.
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Vandervelde is expected to be in court on June 21.
He is awaiting his court date in Mesa County Detention Facility.