D3ath fraud?

A friend of mine went through a messy divorce. Over 5 years, his wife kept kicking back litigation, and eventually stopped showing up to court dates. She has always been pretty fraudulent with disability and malingering, and she blamed it on sickness. Finally, in March of this year, they decided to finalize their divorce in Virginia without her presence.

In April, however, he got a message from his bank saying they were sorry to hear of his wife's death, and the funds to the VA would be returned. He called the VA and found out she died in November, but could get no additional info. He called the bank and it said the account was drained. He checked with the state of Virginia, but there is no death record.Her number is disconnected, but he checked her FB, and it said she was actively on it.

What can he do now? They were still married when she "died", so does he have rights? How was he not informed? How could he initiate an investigation, if only to see where she is buried, where her things are so he can get his passport? Literally anything. This is such an odd situation.