June 30 (UPI) -- An identity thief has emptied the bank account of America's oldest man, Richard Overton, 112, his family claims.
Overton is a cherished World War II veteran in Austin, TX, known as the nation's oldest living man.
Richard's cousin Volma Overton Jr. told CNN affiliate KXAN he noticed a "considerable amount " of money missing when he deposited money into his personal account Thursday and checked the balance. Volma said he found out then that his deposit was the only money in the account, and someone had been using the account for months to purchase savings bonds with Treasury Direct.
"I don't know how they got his social security number and his personal checking account number but those things they have," Volma told KXAN. "It's a shock, it hurts, it hurts tremendously."
The Austin Police Department said that it's working closely with family members on the case.
Richard celebrated his 112th birthday on May 11, an Austin Police Department Twitter post shows.
Richard's personal account is separate from his GoFundMe-linked account that has raised nearly $400,000 to pay for his 24/7 home care since it was set up in December 2016. The home care costs nearly $15,000 a month, KXAN reported.
He enjoys smoking cigars on his front porch and greeting neighbors, Military.com reported. He has gotten celebrity status based on his longevity with former President Barack Obama paying tribute to him five years ago as one of the nation's oldest veterans.
Richard served in the U.S. Army in Pearl Harbor, Okinawa, and Iwo Jima, Obama said, and after the war ended he headed home to Texas, "to a nation bitterly divided by race," but he "held his head high."
