Veteran imprisoned in MO garage for years as nephew stole benefits, feds say
A U.S. Army veteran’s body was wrapped in a trash bag and kept in a garbage can for years as his nephew collected hundreds of thousands of dollars of his Veterans Affairs and Social Security benefits, federal officials said.
Brian Ditch didn’t begin stealing his uncle’s benefits in 2019 upon the man’s death, rather, he started acting as his caretaker and taking his money years earlier while imprisoning his quadriplegic uncle in a Salem, Missouri, garage, according to federal officials.
Now, Ditch has been indicted on 11 federal charges in the Eastern District of Missouri, according to court documents filed May 7. He is charged with four counts of wire fraud, four counts of aggravated identity theft, two counts of theft of government property and one county of possession of a firearm as a convicted felon, court documents said.
Ditch’s attorney information was not listed.
The uncle, according to federal officials, was receiving “100% service-connected disability based on his dementia and his inability to control his bowels or use his hands and feet.” He started receiving this benefit, in addition to Social Security, in 2008.
In total, the uncle had $1,878,501.39 deposited into his accounts from 2008 to 2025, according to the indictment. Ditch is accused of stealing at least $650,000 of that money from when the man died in 2019 until when Ditch was charged in 2025.
Ditch was supposed to be the primary caregiver for his uncle, but federal officials say he instead abused him by locking him in a garage for over a day “where he was forced to sit in his own urine and feces without the ability to eat or drink.”
Ditch’s children would ask where the uncle was, according to court documents, but he would hit and threaten the kids if they asked about his whereabouts. Federal officials said Ditch “physically and emotionally abused his children and significant others.”
As his uncle was locked away, Ditch pretended to be the veteran and ordered $1,000 electronic payments to be transferred from his uncle’s account to his own to make it appear as though he was receiving a paycheck for caretaking, the indictment said.
Authorities found the veteran’s body while searching Ditch’s Salem property on March 21. Additionally, exotic reptiles believed to have been purchased with the stolen money were found, the indictment said.
Salem is about a 125-mile drive southwest from St. Louis.
This story was originally published May 9, 2025 at 12:00 PM with the headline "Veteran imprisoned in MO garage for years as nephew stole benefits, feds say."
