Elderly couple targeted by scammer pretending to be Tom Selleck dead in apparent murder-suicide
BERMUDA DUNES, Calif. (TCN) — An 80-year-old man and his 79-year-old wife were found dead in an apparent murder-suicide after sending thousands of dollars to an online scammer the wife believed was the actor Tom Selleck.
On May 15, authorities went to the home of Donald and Karen Whitaker to perform a welfare check and found the couple deceased, KTLA reports. An investigation began and a friend of the couple, Joy Miedecke, said an unknown commenter began speaking with Karen Whitaker on her Facebook profile in the months leading up to the deaths. The commenter reportedly gained her trust and told her he was Tom Selleck.
According to KTLA, Miedecke said the commenter told Karen Whitaker to send a small amount of money so she could be first on the list at an event the actor was supposedly hosting. Over time, the scammer reportedly asked for larger amounts of money. Miedecke said she and her children tried to discourage Whitaker, but Whitaker continued to send money, believing the scammer to actually be Tom Selleck.
Donald Whitaker reportedly destroyed Karen’s credit card and he and the couple’s children cut Karen Whitaker off from the financial accounts when they found out what she had been doing, according to KTLA. She sent at least $30,000 to the scammer. According to Miedecke, adult protective services became involved and visited the couple at their home several times, KESQ reports.
Miedecke told KESQ, “We even had somebody who had a relationship with somebody that works for Tom Selleck go and talk to her and say, Tom Selleck does not do this. … It didn’t matter. She couldn’t stop believing it.”
The circumstances surrounding the Whitakers’ deaths are not clear, but authorities do not believe the alleged scammer was involved, per KTLA.
According to KESQ, their causes of death have not been released, but a homicide unit is leading the investigation.
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