Alabama couple accused of faking drowning death now missing

By

Posted 3:27PM on Tuesday, March 5, 2002

BAY MINETTE, Ala. - A couple accused of faking the husband's drowning death in an aborted bid to collect insurance have disappeared after selling their home and apparently leaving in a hurry. Beth Ketterman and her husband, Ken, failed to show up at a preliminary hearing Friday in Bay Minette, and their whereabouts remained a mystery to authorities Monday. The Kettermans were charged with conspiring to commit insurance theft when she reported that he fell from a 19-foot fishing boat and disappeared in Perdido Pass waters Jan. 20. He appeared 11 days later, lying on a Fort Morgan roadside, scratched and speaking incoherently; later he said he had used Navy survival skills to reach shore, but recalled little else. District Attorney David Whetstone contends the couple wanted to collect on $400,000 in life insurance but got nervous and abandoned the scheme. The Kettermans say the insurance was not in force at the time he fell and that no conspiracy existed. When the Kettermans failed to appear in state court Friday, authorities found their Chickasaw home occuppied by a new owner, who said the Kettermans appeared to leave in a hurry. She said they left clothing, dishes and cookware and boxes of paper when they packed up and drove off Friday morning. Chickasaw police Sgt. Gerald Thornton said he watched the Kettermans load a U-Haul truck Thursday but there was no law under which they could be stopped at the time. The Kettermans were not required by law to be present at Friday's hearing, but their bond required them to tell authorities of any change of address. Whetstone said it would be a crime if they fled to avoid prosecution, but authorities may not press charges if they simply moved to another residence in the area. Thornton said the Alabama Bureau of Investigation is handling the case.