Son mourns mother's death after 20-year estrangement

Michael Hasch and Karen Roebuck

Howard Whetsell wanted to find his mother so they could make amends and renew their relationship after a 20-year estrangement.

His search came to a heartbreaking end over the weekend when police found the body of 70-year-old Mary Whetsell buried in a shallow grave outside the Turtle Creek home she shared with her longtime companion.

Allegheny County Police said Monday they expect to charge Kenneth Zang, 57, who rents the small house in the 1800 block of Oak Avenue Extension, with stealing Mary Whetsell's Social Security checks.

She has been dead for about four years, but her body was too badly decomposed when it was unearthed Saturday night to immediately determine a cause of death, said county police Lt. Bill Palmer.

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"Her (Social Security) checks continued to come there, and someone was cashing them. We believe the person who buried her was cashing them," he said.

Palmer said investigators are waiting for the county Medical Examiner's Office to determine how Whetsell died before deciding if other charges are warranted.

"I am having a hard time dealing with this," Howard Whetsell said last night.

"We basically had a falling out and I haven't talked to her for a while, so I basically wanted to try to make things right with her. Basically, it was too late."

Zang could not be reached by phone. A man who answered the door there Sunday would not identify himself other than to say he was renting the property. He said he was surprised that a body had been found in the yard.

Howard Whetsell, who would not say where he lives, said his father died more than 40 years ago and his mother and Zang had been companions for at least 20 years.

"He took care of her. I give him much credit for taking care of her," Whetsell said. "If he knew she wasn't long for this world, why didn't he try to get a hold of me? All he would have had to do was call the ambulance. The county would have found me."

Whetsell is not upset that somebody was cashing his mother's checks, but he is angry that someone would have so little respect for her and her family that they would conceal her death and hide her remains in a shallow grave in the yard.

"As far as the Social Security, that's his own demise. He should have known what he was doing," said Whetsell, who decided recently to find his mother.

"I needed to make amends with my mother and try to make things right. I went there and (Zang) told me my mom had passed away four years ago. It hit me like a shock. I asked where she was buried. He told me up in the cemetery where my father's at.

"I went to the cemetery, but she's not there. So I went back to the house a second time and he gave me the runaround, saying, 'I don't remember. It was a cold day. There was snow on the ground.'"

Whetsell said he then searched every cemetery in Turtle Creek and surrounding communities.

"Then I called vital statistics. They told me they had nothing," said Whetsell, who returned to the Turtle Creek residence Saturday.

Zang didn't come to the door.

"I basically told him if he could hear me that I had no choice but to go to the police."

Whetsell said the only thing he can do now is try to find some closure.

"I want to put my mother to rest the proper way. She will be cremated and put with my dad."