Naman Shrestha
When the police were informed about the sudden disappearance of 70-year-old Charles Wilding from his Sherman Oaks, California, home in 2021, they launched an investigation and uncovered a web of fraudulent schemes. As the detectives dug deeper, they were led to a perpetrator who might be responsible for getting rid of Charles’ remains for financial motives. All the intricate details about the elderly man’s disappearance are covered in the episode titled ‘The Executor’ of Netflix’s ‘Worst Neighbor Ever.’
Charles Wilding’s Remains Have Yet to be Found
Born on July 26, 1951, to June Wilding, Charles Wilding moved with his parents to Sherman Oaks, California, in the 1960s. The only child lived by himself in the house he grew up in. Described by his neighbors as a recluse, Charles had few friends and family. In 2017, he suffered a heavy loss with the passing of her mother. In December 2020, a concerned neighbor called 911 to request a welfare check on Charles, who had not been seen by anyone for nearly three months.
When the police arrived at his home, they were met by his alleged trustee, Caroline “Carrie” Herrling, who told the officers that Charles was staying at a friend’s place in Carpinteria. The police once again began investigating his whereabouts in October 2021 after receiving an anonymous call reporting that his identity was being used for financial gain. He was then officially reported missing, and the detectives concluded that he had died sometime in September 2020, but couldn’t determine the manner or cause of his death as his remains have yet to be discovered.
Charles Wilding’s Estate and Trust Documents Were Forged After His Death
After the December 2020 welfare call, the police were introduced to Caroline “Carrie” Herrling as Charles Wilding’s trustee and his late mother June’s friend. She claimed that he had given her the responsibility for cleaning up his Sherman Oaks residence and selling it, while he waited at his friend’s place to buy another property with the proceeds. Although she provided the officers with a phone number to contact him, they couldn’t connect with him. Ten months later, in October 2021, during the investigation of Charles’ disappearance, the police questioned Carrie in her Beverly Glen apartment and asked her to call him in front of them. In her apartment, the detectives noticed the receipt for Charles’ phone number that Carrie had provided them.
Not long after, the investigators realized that Carrie had obtained a phone number and hired a man to pose as Charles when the detectives called that number. Another man was reportedly paid $5,000 by Carrie to lie to the police, claiming he had recently seen Charles with a pocketful of money. Digging deeper into Carrie’s trust documents for the Wilding estate, the detectives learned they had been forged. As per reports, Carrie and her co-conspirators, including Matthew Jason Kroth, took over Charles Wilding’s estate after finding him dead in the house. Instead of notifying the police, they reportedly stole his identifying information, mail, and belongings, as Carrie forged a power-of-attorney document to gain control of his real estate and financial accounts.
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Details of Charles Wilding’s Demise Remain a Mystery to This Day
It is reported that when the detectives began investigating Charles’ whereabouts, Carrie took his remains to her Los Angeles apartment, where she tried to dissolve them using chemicals. When that method failed, on December 21, 2020, she dismembered the remains and placed them in vacuum-sealed bags before disposing of them in San Francisco Bay. On January 12, 2023, as suspicions arose about Carrie’s involvement in Charles’ demise, investigators searched her residences, including her new apartment in West Hills, where they found a collection of stolen and counterfeit passports, birth certificates, credit cards, and Social Security cards.
The search also resulted in the discovery of several firearms, drugs, and fake police badges, indicating her involvement in different kinds of fraudulent schemes. As a result, in March 2024, Carrie pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, for which she was sentenced to 20 years in prison and ordered to pay $3.8 million in restitution. During her sentencing hearing, the judge said that Charles Wilding was “a man and a human being” and Carrie treated him “like a cash register.” Although Carrie and her co-conspirator, Matthew Jason Kroth, were brought to justice for fraud, nobody has been charged with Charles’ murder, which remains a mystery to this day.
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