Name: Elaine Whitman.
Died: December 19, 2022 (Body found; last seen 2012).
Age at death: 44.
Cause of death: Blunt trauma to head and neck.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Disability: Intellectual disability.
Details:
Ten years after she was last seen, police were called to Elaine’s house on a tip that there was a body concealed there. In the basement, they found a skeleton encased in concrete. For ten years, Elaine’s roommate had been living in the house, collecting her disability payments, with Elaine’s body in the basement. An autopsy concluded that Elaine had died from trauma to the head and neck, and her death declared a homicide.
Case Status:
Unsolved. Roommate Holly Sadowski was charged with Social Security fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft.
Sources:
Philly woman allegedly stole $100,000 in disability benefits from homicide victim found buried under rowhome
Woman accused of stealing social security benefits of woman found buried under Philly basement
Philadelphia woman charged with stealing $100,000 in disability benefits intended for a woman whose body was found buried in Frankford basement
Body encased in concrete removed from Philadelphia home