Main: Brian K. Ditch (Dent County Sheriff’s Office). Inset: The garage where Ditch allegedly kept his dead uncle’s body (Eastern District of Missouri court documents).
A 44-year-old man in Missouri is facing multiple felonies for allegedly imprisoning his uncle, a quadriplegic U.S. Army veteran, in the man’s garage so he could steal hundreds of thousands of dollars in benefits intended for the victim — a scheme he’s accused of continuing for years following his uncle’s death by stashing the body in a trash can.
Brian K. Ditch is currently facing four counts of wire fraud, four counts of aggravated identity theft, two counts of theft of government property, and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, court documents reviewed by Law&Crime show.
“For over a decade, Defendant Brian K. Ditch regularly abused and imprisoned his uncle — a quadriplegic Army veteran — in order to steal his government disability benefits,” an indictment filed by federal authorities in the Eastern District of Missouri states. “After years of exploitation, neglect, and internment at the hands of the defendant, [the victim] died while he was in the exclusive custody of the defendant.”
But his uncle’s 2019 death did not stop Ditch, according to prosecutors, who say he hid the man’s body in a backyard shed for more than half a decade.
“To continue his fraud scheme, Defendant Ditch concealed [the victim’s] death — for at least five years — including by wrapping Veteran T.C.’s dead body up in a trash bag and stuffing him into a garbage can. Through his lies and acts of concealment, the defendant stole hundreds of thousands of dollars in Veteran T.C. ‘s disability benefits that the defendant used — not to care for his quadriplegic uncle — but to enrich himself personally.”
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According to the indictment, Ditch began serving as his uncle’s primary caregiver in 2008 and “frequently imprisoned and abused” the disabled veteran so he could take the victim’s benefits from Veterans Affairs and Social Security.
“Instead of using [his uncle’s] disability benefits to properly care for him, the defendant often trapped him in a garage for over 24 hours at a time, where he was forced to sit in his own urine and feces without the ability to eat or drink. By keeping Veteran T.C. locked away, abused, and under his control,” the indictment says.
Ditch allegedly disguised the theft by sending himself $1,000 from his uncle’s bank account at regular intervals to “make it appear as though the Defendant was receiving a regular paycheck for his [caregiving] duties.” However, Ditch is accused of failing to provide basic care for his uncle, who prosecutors say never approved a single payment to his nephew.
After the victim’s 2019 death, Ditch allegedly told family members that his uncle had been moved to a nursing home and told law enforcement that the veteran had left his residence several years earlier with a different caretaker.
In fact, authorities said that Ditch hid his uncle’s body in a trash can that was placed in a shed behind the victim’s home.
“Police officers found [the victim’s] partially frozen dead body wrapped in a black trash bag and stuffed inside a garbage can in the defendant’s shed during the execution of a search warrant on or about March 21, 2025,” authorities said.
Records show that between 2008 and 2025, Ditch’s uncle deposited $1,878,501.39 into his various accounts. Authorities say Ditch stole “at least $650,000” of that for himself after his uncle’s death.
