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SON HIDES FATHER'S BODY TO KEEP COLLECTING VA

BENEFITS -- Buried body in mountains in 1999 and

kept collecting Dad's monthly disability check.

 

 

Story here... http://www.pe.com/
localnews/inland/stories/PE_N
ews_Local_B_bbury04.41f9b63.html

Story below:

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Son admits burying father in mountains

By MASSIEL LADRÓN DE GUEVARA
The Press-Enterprise

A man's body was exhumed in the Twin Peaks area Thursday after his son admitted to burying his father so he could continue collecting veterans benefits, sheriff's officials said.

Mark Lee Christian, of Las Vegas, gave the San Bernardino County coroner's office a detailed description of where he buried his father, James Christian, who died in a Las Vegas motel room in 1999, said sheriff's spokeswoman Arden Wiltshire.

"At this point we are still trying to determine the cause of death and whether or not it is suspicious," Wiltshire said.

An informant tipped the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in October that Mark Christian, 51, was fraudulently collecting benefits intended for James Christian, the Sheriff's Department reported in a news release.

Christian had continued to collect about $1,000 per month in benefits after he buried his father in the unmarked grave, the release said.

Veterans Affairs contacted Christian in April, the release said.

"We don't know at this point why Christian chose the Twin Peaks area to bury his father," Wiltshire said.

The remains were taken to the San Bernardino County morgue where a forensic examination will determine the cause of death.

Anyone with information about the death of James Christian is asked to call 909-387-3589.

Reach Massiel Ladrón De Guevara at 909-806-3054 or mdeguevara@PE.com

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Larry Scott  --