Twist In Case Of Body Found Decomposing In Wallace Home

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Wallace, CA – There is more to the story of a mummified body found in a chair at a Wallace home earlier this month, and it involves money.

In July, 63-year-old Randall Freer died of an undisclosed medical condition while leaving a business in Jackson. That prompted Amador Sheriff’s officials to contact his next of kin in Wallace. On a second attempt to reach a family member, once again, no one answered the door. To the deputy’s surprise, a look through the front window revealed a decomposing body in a chair, as reported here on Tuesday. While foul play was not suspected, sheriff’s officials believed it had been there for over three years.

Calaveras sheriff’s spokesperson Lt. Greg Stark stated, “This is a very unique situation. In 28 years of law enforcement, I can tell you this is an extremely rare occurrence. Specifically, the decedent being left on the chair for several years.”

It turns out, that the man in the chair was 91-year-old Vada Freer, Randall’s father. Calaveras County Coroner Kevin Raggio has been a mortician for 38 years and the Calaveras coroner for 20. He noted that just when you think you’ve seen it all, comes something else, which he described as, “The remains were completely desiccated. No moisture left at all. The body was fully intact with some of the skin missing, but it had turned to leather basically.”

The case broke wide open when Raggio found some of the father’s bank records. “We found a bank statement that had his name on it and there was recent activity there. So, I went to the bank to see when the last time he signed a check was, and that was 2016. So basically, he [the son] was living off his dad’s retirement.”

The father was a national guard member and he was receiving retirement funds from that and Social Security payments, which the son was allegedly still collecting. Raggio estimated the total for the month was over $3,000. He added that the body was turned over to a nephew in San Andres and it was cremated.

Lt. Stark added that sheriff’s detectives are still investigating the theft of the funds.