Police wonder if man loaded dead mom into taxi, took her to bank to withdraw cash



PLYMOUTH, Minn -- Police are investigating whether a man loaded his mother's dead body into a taxi, propped it up in a wheelchair and then pretended she was alive while he withdrew money in her name at a bank.

According to MyFoxtwincities.com,  police arrested David Vanzo recently for elderly neglect after finding his mother, 90, dead in a home they both lived in. Police and social workers said they were overwhelmed by the stench of urine and feces in the home, and found the woman dead in bed wearing a robe and fur coat. Her boots were covered in feces.

Now, police believe Vanzo took his mother to the bank on the day of her death. They rode together in a taxi, MyFoxtwincities.com reported, seven hours before he reported her dead.

A neighbor who saw Vanzo and his mother enter the taxi said it appeared the woman's body was lifeless.

"I don't know if she was unconscious, or not alive," the neighbor said.

When Vanzo and his mother got to the bank, he loaded her into a wheelchair, police told Myfoxtwincities.com. He withdrew $850 in her name, but bank employees were dubious about the health of the mother, saying she did not move and employees couldn't tell if she was breathing.

Her feet were also dragging under the wheelchair.

Vanzo was visited for elder abuse once before, but his mother allegedly told social workers she wanted to stay with her son. He has been investigated for financial exploitation at least two other times.

Vanzo claims he loved his mother, and did everything for her.

"I game my life to keep my mother alive," he told Myfoxtwincities.com. "Look at my eyes."

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