Philadelphia woman charged with stealing $100,000 in disability benefits intended for a woman whose body was found buried in Frankford basement

A 37-year-old Philadelphia woman has been charged with stealing nearly $100,000 in disability benefits intended for a woman whose body was found in 2022 buried under concrete in the basement of a home in the city’s Frankford section, U.S. Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero announced Friday.

Holly Sadowski was charged by a grand jury indictment with Social Security fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft, for concealing the woman’s death, Romero said.

Two federal defenders listed as Sadowski’s lawyers could not be reached for comment Friday. The indictment was filed in May but only unsealed last week.

The deceased woman, who is identified only as E.W. in the indictment, was last seen alive in December 2012 during an appointment with a service provider that she had been visiting monthly since 2004.

The indictment said that E.W. scheduled her next appointment for January 2013 “but did not appear for the appointment,” and that she never contacted the provider again.

In December 2022, a court authorized the search of a home on the 5200 block of Burton Street where E.W. had lived, the indictment said. Human remains were found buried under six to eight feet of concrete in the basement of the home. DNA testing confirmed the remains belonged to E.W.

A forensic anthropologist concluded that E.W.’s cause of death was blunt trauma to her head and neck and the manner of death was homicide, the indictment said. It was estimated that E.M. had died four to 10 years prior to the discovery of her remains.

The indictment does not describe any details from the city’s homicide investigation.

According to the indictment, from 2013 through April 2023, the Social Security Administration transferred $99,447.90 in funds to a bank account belonging to E.W.

Sadowski allegedly accessed those funds during that period and even submitted an online banking application in E.W.’s name in 2021.

Online records show Sadowski had some connection to E.W.’s address since 2009, three years before E.W. was last reportedly seen.

A Philadelphia Police Department website dedicated to unsolved Philadelphia murders reported that the remains belonged to Elaine Whitman, and that they were “unearthed inside the basement of a residence on the 5200 block of Burton Street” on Dec. 19, 2022.

“An examination by the Office of the Medical Examiner determined that the homicide was caused by blunt force trauma. Investigators believe that Elaine was assaulted in May of 2014, in the same residence where her remains were found,” the website said.

Whitman was 44 years old, according to the website.

Online records show that Whitman lived at the house on Burton Street.