Inset: Thomas Tuttle Sr. (Gregory Funeral Services). Background: Theron Gregory Tuttle at a court hearing for allegedly failing to report his father”s death in North Carolina (WSOC/YouTube).
A North Carolina man allegedly let his nonagenarian dad’s body rot for days until he reported his death on Father’s Day.
Theron Gregory Tuttle, 55, is charged with failing to report a death after cops found his 96-year-old father Thomas Tuttle Sr. dead in their home in Dallas, North Carolina.
Cops allege Thomas Tuttle had been dead for days before his son reported the death to cops, according to a courtroom report from local ABC affiliate WSOC. The two lived together at the home, and the younger Tuttle was supposed to be his father’s caregiver.
“It’s a sad thing for me,” a neighbor told the TV station. “Very sad to hear about that. He needed some help, a caretaker.”
But Theron Tuttle, in an interview with the outlet, denied the allegations against him, claiming he called 911 as soon as he found his father’s body. He said he loved his father, a Korean War veteran who was always there for him.
Investigators have seized the suspect’s phone, and a medical examiner is conducting an autopsy on the victim — one that would determine a cause of death and could more accurately establish a timeline for when he died, WSOC reported.
The neighbor said Thomas Tuttle lived at the home for decades.
“Never had an ounce of trouble out of him, extremely nice fellow,” the neighbor told WSOC.
According to his obituary, the victim was born in Portsmouth, Ohio, on Nov. 19, 1929.
Cops arrested the suspect on Sunday and took him to the Gaston County Jail, where he has since posted a $15,000 bond. He has a probable cause hearing set for July 15.
