Police investigating death of Freddie Mac official

WASHINGTON - David Kellermann, the acting chief financial officer of money-losing mortgage giant Freddie Mac, was found dead at his home early Wednesday in what police said was an apparent suicide.

The Fairfax County police responded to a 911 call at 4:48 a.m. at the suburban Virginia home Kellermann shared with his wife, Donna, and 5-year-old daughter, Grace. The police would not release the exact cause of death, but spokesman Eddy Azcarate said Kellermann’s body was found in the basement.

Kellermann, 41, lived in Hunter Mill Estates, a well-off neighborhood of large single-family homes with manicured lawns. County records show Kellermann’s home is worth about $900,000.

Paul Unger, who lives across the street from the Kellermanns, said they are a “solid, salt-of-the-earth kind of family” and that they had hosted the neighborhood’s Halloween party.

“He was just a nice guy. ... You cannot imagine what kind of pressures he must have been under,” Unger said.

Neighbors said Kellermann had lost a noticeable amount of weight under the strain of the job, and some said they suggested to him he should quit to avoid the stress. The neighbors did not want to be quoted by name because they didn’t want to upset the family.

Kellermann, a University of Michigan graduate who went to business school at George Washington University, worked for Freddie Mac for the past 16 years and was named acting chief financial officer last September when the government seized control of the company and ousted top executives. Freddie Mac lost more than $50 billion last year, and the government has pumped in $45 billion to keep the company afloat.