Man wrapped his dead mom in blankets and tried to sink her to the bottom of a river with 'cinder blocks and chains' so he could spend her money on an RV, deputies say

A Florida antheral is down bars aft wrapping his deceased mother's assemblage successful a rug and dumping it successful a stream truthful helium could walk her money, according to instrumentality enforcement successful the Sunshine State.

Joshua Kuke Cullen, 47, stands accused of 1 number each of neglect of an aged idiosyncratic and abuse of a dormant quality body, according to authorities successful Lee and Charlotte counties.

"What began arsenic a missing idiosyncratic probe soon revealed a web of lies, deception, and a shocking disregard for quality dignity," Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said during a news conference.

On May 25, Lee County deputies archetypal took enactment of the concern erstwhile they arrived astatine the woman's location successful North Fort Myers. There, the missing persons study was made by Cullen himself, authorities say.

The suspect seemingly had aggregate concerns astir what mightiness person happened to his mother, according to instrumentality enforcement.

To perceive Cullen archer it, helium had not seen his parent since March. The suspect allegedly went connected to archer investigators his parent had suffered a stroke, was hospitalized, oregon had perchance tally disconnected with a affluent antheral who Cullen could not identify, the sheriffs' offices said.

The hunt for the pistillate began successful earnest.

But alarm bells rapidly emerged.

Investigators allege Cullen had been draining his mother's fiscal accounts — and had adjacent purchased an RV.

Then, connected May 29, Lee County detectives learned that Charlotte County deputies had discovered quality remains adjacent the Peace River.

"A radical of boaters saw thing ample submerged successful the water," Lee County Sheriff Bill Prummell said successful the combined press release. "We responded, and located a pistillate wrapped successful carpet, bound tightly and weighed down by cinder blocks and chains."

The assemblage was the defendant's mother. Cullen reported her missing connected Memorial Day, but she had been dormant for weeks, authorities say.

"These remains were wrapped successful blankets rolled wrong a rug and bound with tape," Marceno said during the quality conference.

After the grim discovery, investigators began searching the country adjacent the stream — and recovered what they judge to beryllium tools utilized by the suspect to effort to surreptitiously dispose of his mother's corpse.

"Some of the things they collected were a wheelbarrow, bluish straps, and a ladder," Prummell said during the quality conference.

Law enforcement shared postulation surveillance photos that purport to amusement immoderate of the items utilized successful the failed plot. In those photos, the wheelbarrow and ladder are strapped to the apical of a car said to beryllium to Cullen. Investigators said they created a timeline based connected the images to necktie the suspect to the country of the crime.

"We judge the pistillate died wrong the home, and Cullen continued surviving alongside her deceased body," Marceno added. "This atrocious excuse for a antheral near this pistillate exposed, discarded, and unsocial portion helium selfishly carried connected with his life."

On Tuesday, Cullen was arrested astatine the Hitzing Avenue location helium antecedently shared with his parent successful the Twin Pine Villages neighborhood. The suspect is presently detained successful the Lee County Jail connected $50,000 bond. He is slated to look successful tribunal connected July 6.