Background: 41B District Court in Clinton Township, Mich. (Google Maps). Inset: Linda Polk (Macomb County Sheriff’s Office).
A Michigan woman hired to care for an elderly man allegedly ordered that he be taken off life support and his body cremated — without telling his family.
In a Facebook post by the Macomb County Sheriff’s Office, police announced the April 2 arrest of Linda Polk, 52, alleging that the onetime caregiver of a 78-year-old man fraudulently obtained power of attorney over him. In October 2024, the man fell ill and was put on life support. Using her power of attorney, Polk allegedly ordered that the man be taken off life support then promptly had his body cremated.
According to police, Polk never told his family that he died.
Polk allegedly “authored a fraudulent Quit-Claim deed on the victim’s home” soon after his death on Oct. 19, 2024, according to the police statement. The sheriff’s office stated that Polk’s alleged criminal activities had been going on for months before the man passed away, saying that she “allegedly embezzled a large sum of money from the victim and opened, and used, credit cards in the victim’s name.” The sheriff’s office said that an investigation by Clinton Township police into Polk’s alleged fraud is ongoing.
Authorities stated that Polk was originally hired in the spring of 2021 to care for the alleged victim’s wife. By early 2024, the husband fell ill, leading to his hospitalization in October of that year and his eventual death.
Polk now faces eight felony charges — first-degree premeditated homicide, two counts of forgery, embezzlement from a vulnerable adult, three counts of identity theft, and two counts of financial transactions for illegal use. She was placed in custody on April 2, and according to the sheriff’s office, a judge set her bond at $1 million and ordered that she wear a steel cuff tether upon release and turn over her passport.
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