Neighbors shocked by new details in death of missing neighbor found buried in flowerbed

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - New details have come to light in the death investigation of a Memphis woman from earlier this year following a horrifying discovery in a Crosstown backyard.

The body of 83-year-old Rebecca Seay was found buried in a shallow grave beneath her flower bed.

The discovery was made months ago, but we’re just learning the details Tuesday, almost eight months later.

Seay was reported missing to Memphis Police on Feb. 18.

TBI issued a Silver Alert for her on March 2.

We now know her body was discovered the next day, buried in the backyard flowerbed of her home, a rental property on Montgomery Street.

Her caretaker, 59-year-old Gregory Tanner, is accused of burying Seay.

He went before a Shelby County Judge for several charges, including abuse of a corpse.

Just down the street, Danny McDivitt has lived in his Crosstown home for nearly 30 years and knew Seay’s son, David.

David, who passed away late last year, was Tanner’s boyfriend.

McDivitt said that Tanner and David lived in the duplex together before Seay moved in.

“She had come... she had gotten in ill health and had come here, and David was taking care of her,” McDivitt said.

After David passed, Tanner took over Seay’s care.

“I would see Greg driving by, occasionally,” McDivitt recalled. “I rarely saw her, though.”

On top of allegedly burying Seay in the back flowerbed, Tanner is accused of burying David’s ashes with her.

Court documents show that even before the mother and son passed, Tanner allegedly spent thousands of Seay’s money for online gambling, and is accused of forging her signature to deposit tens of thousands into his First Horizon Bank account.

In total, he’s accused of stealing $105,000 in the span of roughly 14 months, which are disturbing details for neighbors like McDivitt.

“It’s just something unusual going on,” said McDivitt. “Everybody is buzzing about it.”

Tanner remains at 201 Poplar on a $150,000 bond.

His next court appearance is set for Wednesday at 9 a.m.

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