A California woman who friends say sent thousands of dollars to someone posing as Tom Selleck is now dead in what authorities describe as a murder-suicide. Donald and Karen Whitaker, ages 80 and 79, were found with traumatic injuries in their Bermuda Dunes home on May 15 after a welfare check, according to the Riverside County Sheriff's Office, which says there's no indication the scammer was directly tied to their deaths, per NBC News.
The sheriff's office says Karen had been a victim of financial elder abuse. Friend Joy Miedecke says it began about a year ago on Facebook after Karen posted about a late high school friend. A person claiming to be the Blue Bloods actor messaged, said he'd dated the same woman long ago, and slowly gained Karen's trust, Miedecke says. The scam reportedly escalated from an $80 gift card for a supposed event ticket to repeated requests for larger sums, even after family, friends, and deputies warned her it was a fraud.
Adult protective services became involved, and the family tried to cut off access to money, but Miedecke says Karen kept finding ways to send funds. She believes her friend may have been suffering from the early stages of dementia, per People. "She thought it was really Tom Selleck," Miedecke says, estimating that Karen had sent at least $30,000 to the scammer. "Nobody could stop her."
Miedecke also notes how "embarrassed" Donald Whitaker was over his wife's susceptibility and that he'd even talked suicide, adding that he could never actually take his own life because he feared Karen would burn through all their money after his death and leave nothing for their children. The day before the couple's deaths, Karen was still asking friends for cash, Miedecke notes, per NBC. "I am very upset with the fact that we have an aging population and that people are going to be scammed like this," she says.
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