2 men face charges in connection with disposal of 17-year-old girl's body

Two people were charged this week in connection with the death of a 17-year-old girl whose remains were found in Fayette County in April 2024.

They are accused of disposing of the body of Kaitlin Whoolery, 17, in North Union in November 2023.

Derrick D. Bradley, 37, of Uniontown, and Vincent Paul Cossell, 44, of Brownsville, were charged with hindering apprehension, child endangerment, concealing the death of a child, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse. Bradley faces an additional count of interference with custody of children.

A criminal complaint filed by state police against Bradley indicates Whoolery had absconded from a drug treatment facility. Troopers learned in April 2024 that Whoolery apparently died at a motel in Uniontown in November 2023 and Bradley and Cossell agreed to get rid of the body, according to court papers.

Witness statements to police indicate Whoolery died from a drug overdose. No information about a cause of death was included in the affidavit of probable cause.

Bradley and Cossell are not charged with causing her death.

Whoolery’s remains were found in North Union, in the area of Washington Avenue and Hogsett Lane near a set of train tracks and a stream. The site is not far from Laurel Highlands High School just north of Uniontown.

Cossell told investigators he and Bradley dumped her body there and went back a month later to bury it.

Bradley was denied bond and is being detained in the Fayette County Prison. A Sept. 29 preliminary hearing is set.

Cossell was awaiting arraignment. Neither suspect had attorneys listed in online court records.