Chicago woman who hid mother’s body in freezer indicted on fraud charges
A Chicago woman who kept her mother’s body in a freezer for two years has been indicted on federal charges of stealing Social Security and food assistance benefits, according to prosecutors. She allegedly assumed her mother’s identity and continued collecting benefits after her death.
Eva Bratcher was indicted on August 24, according to court records cited by CBS Chicago. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois announced the new charges on Tuesday.
Her mother, 96-year-old Regina Michalski, died in March 2021. Bratcher bought a freezer about a week later and stored her mother’s body inside it in the garage of her Portage Park home, CBS Chicago reported.
The body was discovered after Bratcher’s estranged daughter, Sabrina Watson, called Chicago police to request a welfare check on her grandmother. Watson told CBS Chicago at the time that she believed her mother had concealed the death for money.
Federal prosecutors allege that during the two years the body was hidden, the woman collected her mother’s Social Security payments and used her benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as SNAP or food stamps.
She also allegedly used an alternative Social Security number to obtain additional SNAP benefits to which she was not entitled.
The indictment charges her with theft of government property and fraud, misrepresentation or misuse of Social Security benefits. The charges carry maximum prison terms of 10 years and five years, respectively.
The woman previously pleaded guilty in 2023 to felony counts of concealing a death and moving a body, and possessing a fraudulent identification card. She was sentenced to 18 months in prison, according to CBS Chicago.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
