A New Yorker’s Puzzling Death in the Phoenix Airport(A possible explanation)

New York Times ^ | 10/01/07 | Sewell Chan

[BurbankKarl]

GOTBAUM, BETSY
NEW YORK,NY 10011
NY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
6/29/2000
$3,650
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Cmte

GOTBAUM, BETSY
NEW YORK,NY 10024
6/29/2004
$2,000
Kerry, John

GOTBAUM, BETSY
NEW YORK,NY 10011
NY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
6/29/2000
$1,000
Clinton, Hillary Rodham

GOTBAUM, BETSY
NEW YORK,NY 10007
NOT EMPLOYED/RETIRED
9/30/2003
$500
Lieberman, Joe

GOTBAUM, BETSY
NEW YORK,NY 10013
NOT EMPLOYED/RETIRED
3/31/2003
$500
Lieberman, Joe

GOTBAUM, BETSY
NEW YORK,NY 10024
CITY OF NEW YORK
5/20/2005
$500
Clinton, Hillary

GOTBAUM, BETSY
NEW YORK,NY 10011
NY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
6/29/2000
$350
Clinton, Hillary Rodham

GOTBAUM, BETSY
NEW YORK,NY
HISTORICAL SOCIETY
10/21/1996
$250
New York State Democratic Cmte

GOTBAUM, BETSY
NEW YORK,NY 10021
NYC DEPT OF PARKS
9/24/1997
$250
Emily’s List

GOTBAUM, BETSY
NEW YORK,NY 10024
NY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
7/29/1997
$250
Bayh, Evan

GOTBAUM, BETSY
NEW YORK,NY 10024
NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY
2/8/2000
$250
Clinton, Hillary Rodham

GOTBAUM, BETSY
NEW YORK,NY 10024
NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY
5/30/2000
$250
Clinton, Hillary Rodham

GOTBAUM, BETSY
NEW YORK,NY 10024
NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY/DIRECTO
12/29/1999
$250
Clarke, Una S

GOTBAUM, BETSY
NEW YORK,NY 10024
NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY/DIRECTO
8/16/2000
$250
Clarke, Una S

GOTBAUM, BETSY
NEW YORK,NY 10024
NYC DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
8/8/2000
$250
EMILY’s List

GOTBAUM, BETSY
,
NY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
7/1/1996
$250
McCarthy, Carolyn

GOTBAUM, BETSY
BROOKLYN,NY 11201
NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY
11/6/1995
$250
Clinton, Bill

GOTBAUM, BETSY
BROOKLYN,NY 11201
NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY
3/22/1996
$250
Clinton, Bill

GOTBAUM, BETSY
BROOKLYN,NY 11201
NY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
7/2/1996
$200
Green, Mark

GOTBAUM, BETSY
BROOKLYN,NY 11201
NY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
12/30/1998
$200
Green, Mark

Gotbaum, Betsy Ms
New York,NY 10024
City of New York/Public Advocate
9/24/2004
$500
DNC Services Corp

GOTBAUM, BETSY MS
NEW YORK,NY 10024
NY HISTORICAL SOCIETY/DIRECTOR
6/7/2002
$250
Democratic Cmte of New York State

GOTBAUM, IRV
NEW YORK,NY 10012
FRIEDMAN & GOTBAUM
8/31/1999
$1,000
Giuliani, Rudolph W

GOTBAUM, IRVING
BROOKLYN,NY 11201
SELF/ATTORNEY
6/30/2006
$1,000
Yassky, David

GOTBAUM, IRVING J
NEW YORK,NY 10012
FRIEDMAN & GOTBAUM LLP/LAWYERS
3/25/2002
$500
Maloney, Carolyn B

GOTBAUM, IRVING J
NEW YORK,NY 10022
FRIEDMAN & GOTBAUM LLP
12/14/1996
$250
Schumer, Charles E

GOTBAUM, IRVING J
NEW YORK,NY 10022
FRIEDMAN & GOTBAUM L L P
12/14/1996
$250
Schumer, Charles E

GOTBAUM, JOSHUA
NEW YORK,NY 10022
5/17/1993
$3,000
DNC Services Corp

GOTBAUM, JOSHUA
WASHINGTON,DC 20007
SAFETY-KLEEN BOARD OF DIRECTORS
4/6/2006
$2,500
Safety-Kleen Systems

GOTBAUM, JOSHUA
WASHINGTON,DC 20007
NOT EMPLOYED/NOT EMPLOYED
6/30/2003
$2,000
Lieberman, Joe

GOTBAUM, JOSHUA
WASHINGTON,DC 20007
SELF-EMPLOYED/CONSULTANT
3/11/2003
$2,000
Kerry, John

GOTBAUM, JOSHUA
WASHINGTON,DC 20007
OMB
11/1/2000
$2,000
DNC Services Corp

GOTBAUM, JOSHUA
WASHINGTON,DC 20007
DEPT OF TREASURY
5/28/1996
$1,000
Reed, Jack

GOTBAUM, JOSHUA
WASHINGTON,DC 20007
HAWAIIAN AIRLINES INC
2/11/2004
$1,000
Inouye, Daniel K

GOTBAUM, JOSHUA
WASHINGTON,DC 20007
5/17/1996
$1,000
Democratic National Committee

GOTBAUM, JOSHUA
WASHINGTON,DC 20007
8/28/1996
$500
Kerry, John

GOTBAUM, JOSHUA
NEW YORK,NY 10024
SEPTEMBER 11TH FUND/EXECUTIVE DIREC
7/6/2001
$500
Shapiro, Ira S

GOTBAUM, JOSHUA
WASHINGTON,DC 20007
SELF EMPLOYED/CONSULTANT
3/31/2003
$500
Gephardt, Richard A

GOTBAUM, JOSHUA
WASHINGTON,DC 20007
SELF-EMPLOYED/CONSULTANT
4/3/2001
$250
Shapiro, Ira S

GOTBAUM, JOSHUA
WASHINGTON,DC 20007
DEPT OF TREASURY
6/29/1999
$250
Reed, Jack

Gotbaum, Joshua Mr
New York,NY 10022
Hawian Airlines/Executive/ trustee
7/27/2004
$23,000
DNC Services Corp

Gotbaum, Joshua Mr
New York,NY 10022
Hawian Airlines
7/27/2004
$2,000
Kerry, John

GOTBAUM, NOAH
LONDON,ZZ
TELECOMS
8/21/2000
$1,000
Clinton, Hillary Rodham

GOTBAUM, NOAH
NEW YORK,NY 10024
GOTBAUM VENTURES INC./INVESTOR
5/11/2006
$500
DNC Services Corp

GOTBAUM, NOAH
NEW YORK,NY 10024
SPRINT RECYCLING/RECYCLING
6/3/2005
$500
DNC Services Corp

GOTBAUM, NOAH
NEW YORK,NY 10025
GOTHBAUM VENTURES/CONSULTANT
5/16/2006
$250
Rowley, Coleen

GOTBAUM, NOAH E
NEW YORK,NY 10024
SPRINT RECYCLING INC./RECYCLING
6/24/2004
$2,000
Kerry, John

GOTBAUM, NOAH E
NEW YORK,NY 10025
GOTBAUM VENTURES INC/INVESTOR
5/17/2006
$250
Welch, Peter

GOTBAUM, NOAH E
NEW YORK,NY 10025
GOTBAUM VENTURES INC/INVESTMENTS
6/9/2006
$220
Giffords, Gabrielle

GOTBAUM, NOAH ELLIOT
W9 1B,
LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS/TELECOM EXEC
6/30

[clintonh8r]

She cried out for help at the airport

The family plays the victim card. All the buzz words are in the second press release. I guess the family lawyer suggested that the first statement wasn't sufficiently uh, "victimized."

[Fishtalk]

Okay....she arrives late for her connecting flight. the plane is still there but she can’t board. She goes nuts in front of everybody, starts yelling crazy stuff like being a terrorist.

So okay, missing a plane is a stressful thing; sometimes people go overboard in their dismay.

The police were right in handcuffing her and getting her out of there.

But young women should not be dying while handcuffed and in a police holding area. Sorry. It just shouldn’t happen.

Something isn’t right with this story but hey, she could have had a heart attack. Or else the police are lying and they did something that caused her death. Which I doubt.

Or there’s something odd about that handcuff and “shackle” situation scenario that needs further study.

The woman was only in there for what? Ten minutes?

Weird.

[LynnHam]

If anything, it is all on video. You’re saying she wanted a smoke and a drink in the bar before her flight to Tucson?

Sure the flight was long..... they have a bar there at airport that is the only smoking area inside the airport. She went for a smoke and drink maybe and was late getting to her flight.... so she was late and freaked out!

[badbass]

With respect and sympathy for your situation, there is a bit of responsibility on the family for loosing a bipolar person on society when s/he is not moderated by meds, if that is indeed the situation here.

I'll just have to say that I bet you've probably not experienced dealing with a mentally ill family member, or at least not recently. The law is such nowadays that you cannot force them to take their medicine, nor do anything to them, unless a court or law enforcement officer feels that they are a danger to themselves or others. It's not like the old days, where they were locked up and forced to take treatment. The family's hands are tied. I wouldn't wish the experience of dealing with a mentally ill family member on my worst enemy.

[Spok]

“I was wondering if she was checking into alcohol rehab why would she be traveling alone?”

My first thought, too. It sounds like she was well-to-do, so it’s not like an escort could not have been provided.

[quant5]

Agreed, like heart failure or stroke. If she was intoxicated she would likely have been very dehydrated while put into custody. Most alcoholics or drug users I know who are going to rehab go to it with one last blast in them. Alcoholics freak when they quit or even try to scale back. It reminds me of nicotine withdrawals but worse.

[Ramius]

They can be violent, irrational, and aggressive - the exact type of individual that is put through hell in today’s conformist socialist society.

LOL... It's society's fault for not "tolerating" violent irrational and agressive behavior!

I'm sorry, and YES I have experience with bipolar people, but it is NOT up to the rest of the world to figure out how to deal "nicer" with a violent, irrational person. It is up to THAT person to figure out how to live in the world without harming others. Failing that, society must protect itself from that person. Period.

[Not A Snowbird]

If this woman was that disturbed, heading to alcohol rehab, I would think some caring family member would have escorted her to Phoenix rather than leaving her to fend for herself.

[skr]

From the “Intervention” programs I’ve seen on A&E, they seem to send those who agree to a program far away from their usual haunts and enablers.

Someone in the family must be wondering why they weren’t with her until she got on the plane, but then someone else decided that lawyering up and blaming it on the police would be more profitable.

[Ramius]

At this point, I doubt that she strangled herself in those handcuffs. Heart failure, stroke, alcohol or drug overdose all seem more likely.

There was the bit about the strangling herself on the handcuffs while struggling to get out of them. I would think thats just some bad writing by the reporter, in that I can't really figure how that's possible. BUT it might easily be possible that in struggling to get out of the cuffs in her cell, she might have gotten tangled up in her own clothing and strangled.

That sort of thing might also happen in a matter of mere minutes. I can't imagine that she would have, or should have been under observation every moment.

[maine-iac7]

Well, now by golly, I'm gonna tell ya all what I think.

I think I wasn't there and thereby don't know what happened - I could only conjecture, so I'll pass...

[nkycincinnatikid]

“they allow smoking in the bar at the airport”
Well then, your scenario just doesn’t make sense, people don’t kill themselves when there’s a bar handy. And one allowing smokeing no less.

[Alouette]

What on earth is that THING?

[Cacique]

bfl

[Leisler]

Bump!

I figure they were trying to take her away from the bar?

Right?

Like out in that cancer causing sunshine? Fresh air? All those green things, you know, like tall bushes...um...trees thats them!

Poor thing. I've done a 180 on her. It all makes sense now. It didn't have to end this way. F'n heath fascists!

[mass55th]

"She was late for the flight and they wouldn’t let her on the plane even though it was still at the departure gate."

The article doesn't mention if her earlier flight was late landing in Phoenix, or if she was herself late because she daudled at the airport. I wonder if she might have stopped for a last drink or two before heading to Tucson. I'm assuming she'd flown into Phoenix from NY City, as that is where they say she lived.

The stepmother says "this woman...was without doubt emotionally disturbed." I wonder if she means only while acting-out at the airport, or if she was emotionally disturbed period. Obviously she had an alcohol abuse problem and was on her way to an in-patient alcohol rehab center. It makes me wonder why there wasn't anyone accompanying her to make sure she actually got there. I mean, where was the moral support? The husband seems to be noticeably absent during this. It would have been nice if a family member had at least taken the time to accompany her on the flights. Then again, there's the possibility, that she didn't want any support from anyone.

[LynnHam]

Well then, your scenario just doesn’t make sense, people don’t kill themselves when there’s a bar handy. And one allowing smokeing no less

Just talking about why she was late and freaked out . Didn't say anything about killing herself. I'm a smoker I've been to that airport many times The only place to smoke is the bar. It was a long fight from NY. The 1 st place I go is the bar to smoke ... Then I leave the airport after my cig... I buy a soft drink but she was making a transfer to another flight so went to smoke and drink before her transfer to Tucson was late and freaked out .

[Rennes Templar]

Yes, if she was medically disturbed, she should have had someone with her. But if it were a temper tantrum, she created her own demise.

[mass55th]

"There are no rehab centers in NY?"

That was one of my thoughts too. Why Tucson? And why didn't a friend or family member accompany her to make sure she got there okay? If she had a drinking problem, wouldn't it have been prudent for someone to be there, not only for support, but to ensure she got there without tipping a few on the way?