A Coachella Valley woman found slain alongside her husband last week may have been scammed recently, and for an extended period of time, by a person claiming to be actor Tom Selleck, according to media reports.
Donald Whitaker, 80, and his 79-year-old wife, Karen Whitaker, were discovered by Riverside County sheriff’s deputies around noon Friday in their home. A neighbor had called in a wellness check.
Authorities found the couple suffering from traumatic injuries. The Whitakers were declared dead at the scene. Sheriff’s homicide investigators are looking into the case.
The couple had been living in the exclusive unincorporated golf community of Bermuda Dunes, just east of Palm Desert.
Riverside County officials said there were no updates on the active investigation. It’s not clear if the alleged scam had any connection to the deaths of the couple.
Coachella Valley ABC affiliate KESQ reported that family friend Joy Miedecke had said a mysterious person claiming to be Selleck, the longtime actor most recently seen in CBS police drama “Blue Bloods,” had reached out to Karen Whitaker.
Joy Miedecke, president of the East Valley Republican Women Patriots, told a local news station that a mysterious person claiming to be Tom Selleck was scamming her friend.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Karen had made a memorial post about a school friend on Facebook. Shortly after, the fraudulent Selleck texted Whitaker, according to Miedecke, club president of the East Valley Republican Women Patriots, where the trio became friends.
“They found her phone number, and they text messaged her, and they said they were Tom Selleck,” Miedecke told KESQ. “And that they knew this girl and had dated her — ‘and now we have something in common.’ And that started the whole thing.”
A call to a number listed for Miedecke was not immediately returned.
Whitaker began to send money through gift cards, with increments beginning at $80 but progressing to larger amounts such as $800, according to Miedecke.
Miedecke alerted authorities to the potential of fraud, she said. Eventually, even the Whitakers’ family members destroyed credit cards and took away her access to her bank accounts.
“We even had somebody who had a relationship with somebody that works for Tom Selleck go and talk to her and say, ‘Tom Selleck does not do this,’” Miedecke told KESQ. “It didn’t matter. She couldn’t stop believing it.”
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department did not comment on the claims.
