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| Updated: 5/19/2012 11:08 am |
Published: 5/19/2012 11:04 am |
RUSSELLVILLE, AR – Investigators say a 74 year old man was victimized by the woman trusted to care for him. The prosecutor says she used more than a quarter million dollars of the elderly man’s money to pay off her house, plus pay for airline tickets, concerts, travel expenses, a Lincoln Navigator and a boat.
Prosecutor David Gibbons says 44 year old Shannon Ortega of Russellville faces a pair of abuse of an adult charges. She is accused of taking for personal use almost 290 thousand dollars the victim received in inheritance from his dead brother while neglecting his care.
Investigators say when they went to Ortega’s home to check on the victim they found him malnourished, unkept and so weak he could not walk. Their report indicates the floor of the room where he was found was covered in dog feces, there were dirty plates with rotten food and the man’s bed sheets were urine stained. Although six feet tall, the victim weighed less than 130 pounds.
Authorities were alerted to the situation by a niece of the victim who expressed concern when she was unable to contact him.
Ortega was arrested with bond set at 25,000 dollars.
