A Missouri man faces federal charges related to the death of his uncle, a US Army veteran with quadraplegia, whose death he allegedly kept hidden for five years while stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in disability benefits.

According to the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri, Brian K. Ditch, who was responsible for his uncle’s care starting in 2008, “kept his uncle locked in his garage and under his control” while collecting the man’s benefits.

“Instead of properly caring for his uncle, Ditch trapped him in the garage for over 24 hours at a time, forcing his uncle ”to sit in his own urne and feces without the ability to eat or drink,’” the office said, quoting the indictment that charged Ditch, 44, with four counts of wire fraud, four counts of aggravated identity theft, two counts of theft of government preperty, and one count of being a felong in possession of a firearm.

Ditch’s uncle died in 2019, and he kept his body hidden and the death unreported “so that he could continue to receive the money,” the indictment says. Ditch told relatives that he had moved his uncle into a nursing home.

Ditch misappropriated $9,559 per month from the US Department of Veterans Affairs and nearly $250,000 in Social Security disability benefits, using the money to “buy exotic reptiles, fund lavish vacations, and enrich himself.”

Investigators found the uncle’s frozen body in a trash can in March. Officials say he stole at least $650,000.