Posted on 05/20/2009 1:28:39 PM PDT by Abathar
INDIANAPOLIS -- The Marion County Coroner's Office has come under fire after it was revealed that an obese woman was dragged from her home and hauled away on a trailer in front on family members following her death.
Teresa Smith, 48, who weighed 750 pounds, died Tuesday in her apartment on Indianapolis' northeast side.
Officials at the scene told 6News' Jack Rinehart that the deputy coroner made the decision to call a towing service remove the body from the home.
"We debated for quite a while about how we were going to get her out of there and so we finally decided, since we didn't have a van that was large enough to carry her, it was decided between (the police) department and the coroner's office to use (the truck)," said Detective Marcus Kennedy.
Smith's boyfriend and the couple's 13-year-old son, along with several neighbors, watched as Smith's body, still on her mattress, was dragged across the courtyard of the apartment complex, strapped down on the wrecker and covered with a piece of carpet.
"I think they should have handled it differently, putting her on a flatbed like they did. That was like putting a cow up there," said Smith's boyfriend, David Johnson.
Neighbors said they were also disturbed the ordeal.
"What really got me is when they took her off onto the flatbed, they threw this dirty, dirty carpet on top of her, and I just thought that was so disrespectful," said a neighbor, who did not want to be identified. "I would have never let them throw that on my loved one."
Once on the truck, Smith's body was escorted by police downtown to the coroner's office.
(Excerpt) Read more at theindychannel.com ...
Man, that's just not right...
But that’s a big women.... Not man man want to pick that up.
If you didn’t have the link, I would not believe that this wasn’t the Onion, or some other piece of satire.
Really... that carpet was shag... they couldn’t have found a Persian rug instead?
That is really sad, especially for the child who just lost their mother.
Could have been worse. If she was on an upper floor of a walkup, they would have had to chop up the body and take it out in pieces.
Is there a gentle and respectful way to haul a 750 lb dead body?
Still, to wench her across the yard with a tow truck on a mattress??
750# is still movable, with a little work is all.
Sure, confronted with the daunting task of moving a 750lb body I could understand that the methods might have to be a little unorthodox. But this is unseemly.
At least they didn’t quarter her first.
Indeed!
A 750-lb corpse presents certain challenges that aren’t easily navigated. I agree that the way they took her away lacked some decorum, but I struggle to see how else they could have done it.
I think its the dirty carpet that has upset them. Its just not respectful to treat the dead like that no matter what their size was.
“...Still, to wench her across the yard with a tow truck on a mattress??...”
Did you expect them to use a crane?
I know this was harsh, but 750# is a lot of weight. Maybe they could have consulted with the family giving them options.
“She said the office is now looking for a way to transport Smith’s body from the morgue to the funeral home.”
All she has to do is read the article . . . . 2 paragraphs up from that...
“the equipment is available.......”
I would not risk significant injury tomyself trying to move someone like that, even with a team of people to help me.
Sure, the rug thing was not a great idea, but I think they did the best they could, considering she was about FOUR TIMES the size of an average person.
OK, you have a morbidly oversize dead body, beginning to decompose. You have no truck, no van no vehicle large enough to do the job. It would be very difficult for even 10 guys to carry a 750 lb. mattress for any significant distance. They may have even had to widen the doorway.
I really question whether they really dumped a dirty carpet oin top of the body. More likely, the body was draped in some sheets or plastic like a body bag. A tarpaulin or other sheet of material was probably used, although it had to be fairly heavy to keep from blowing off in the wind. It would be far worse to see a dead body with no cover on a flatbed.
The boyfriend and 13 year old kid should have been escorted away from the scene. I bet they refused to go.
Oh, don’t forget how nasty it would have been if they had to wait several hours to get a big truck, then figure out how to slide the body in.
Sounds like it was a decent decision process for an unusually difficult problem.
C’mon, it’s not like there was a chainsaw involved.
This has already been tried.
Best,
L
Yes, 750 pounds of dead weight (no pun intended) is allot of weight to haul around gracefully.
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