Tour of a $55k home after $855k was paid for upgrades

ST. LOUIS - FOX 2 obtained exclusive access to a two-bedroom home on Pennsylvania Avenue in South City after nearly $1 million was paid to renovate it.

The 1950's-era kitchen appears untouched, along with the worn, decades-old laminate, deteriorating wallpaper—some soiled from years of contact with the person who slept there. You can see punctured walls, cracked foundations, chipped tile, and a bathroom that defies description. The tub appears to be from the 1920s, with an ancient fixture remuddled with plastic tubing and clamps.

Sharon Pacie and Loretta Pritt are friends with the woman who lived there, a woman who has since died.

Pacie said, “Every time we would see her, we would ask how’s this coming along and she would say he found something else—he found something else.”

They couldn’t see for themselves for awhile because it was during COVID. Then, when they did visit, Pritt explained how filthy it was.

“This actually looks good,” Pacie said about what it looks like today. “When we got into this house, we could not breathe; there were mounds and mounds of papers and boxes.”

We’re not naming the 81-year-old victim, because the courts only identified her by her initials and she can’t give her consent since she’s now deceased.

The man accused of scamming her is 36-year-old Gino Rives, who pleaded guilty to bilking two seniors out of more than $1.1 million. More than $855,000 involved the South City hom...