The key information in this article is that Bob Schindler says Terri was in street clothes sitting up when they left. The article also says that Terri has been returned to the nursing home.
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George Felos, the attorney representing Michael Schiavo, said the wounds - four on one arm, and one on the other - appeared to have been caused by a hypodermic needle. He said the marks and a purple needle cap in Terri Schiavo's gown were discovered after a 45-minute visit Monday by her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler.
"It appears that someone was either trying to inject Terri Schiavo with something or withdraw fluids from her," Felos said.
Clearwater police are investigating.
Terri Schiavo's father, Bob Schindler, told WTSP-TV in Tampa that nothing was wrong with his daughter when he left the hospice Monday afternoon. He said he did not insert a needle into his daughter's arms.
The Schindlers referred calls Tuesday to attorney George Tragos, who said it was "absurd" to suggest that her parents were somehow responsible.
"It's just another mean-spirited attack designed to get some judicial advantage," Tragos said.
Terri Schiavo, 40, was taken to the emergency room at Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater Monday night where toxicology tests were negative, Felos said. She was later returned to the nursing home.
After the parents' visit, she was found in "a disheveled state," Felos said, with her feeding tube wrapped around her back and an allergy band pulled up very tight on her arm like a tourniquet.
Tragos said the Schindlers reported that Terri was clean, dressed in street clothes and sitting up when they left the facility Monday.
"I have no idea what happened, but it certainly is mysterious since we believe she was actually showing some improvement," Tragos said.
Michael Schiavo has ordered that his wife will have no visitors until the police complete their investigation.
Monday afternoon, Circuit Judge George Greer denied a motion filed by the Schindlers seeking to have Michael Schiavo defend himself in a hearing against charges that he is not sharing sufficient medical information about his wife with her parents.
The Schindlers say he has violated a 1996 court order requiring him to share the information. He countered that he has shared sufficient information with them through attorneys, which he said is the accepted protocol.
Terri Schiavo has been in what court-appointed doctors call a "persistent vegetative state" for 14 years. Schiavo's husband says she once told him she would not want to be on life support. Her parents say otherwise.
Michael Schiavo won a court order to remove a feeding tube in October, but the state Legislature quickly passed a law that allowed Gov. Jeb Bush to order the tube reinserted.
Michael Schiavo claimed the law was unconstitutional and has sued the governor. That case is pending.
AP-ES-03-30-04 1052EST