Here's the latest from AP. It says Jeb asked the FDLE to monitor the investigation, but the FDLE will only step in if Clearwater police request their assistance. The story gives no timeline on when Terri was discovered in this state after the Schindler's 45 minute visit.
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TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Terri Schiavo, the severely brain-daamaged woman at the center of a long-running right-to-die court battle, was hospitalized briefly after nursing home workers found what appeared to be needle marks on her arms, a lawyer for her husband said Tuesday.
However, tests found no unauthorized drugs or other substances in her blood. Clearwater police were investigating, and Gov. Jeb Bush said he has asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to also get involved.
George Felos, the attorney representing Michael Schiavo, said the puncture marks - four on arm, and one on the other - 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, who have been fighting Michael Schiavo's legal efforts to remove his wife's feeding tube so she can die.
"It appears that someone was either trying to inject Terri Schiavo with something or withdraw fluids from her," Felos said, characterizing it as "a criminal assault."
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 was taken to the emergency room at Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater Monday night where tests were performed, Felos said. She was returned to the nursing home before dawn Tuesday.
After the parents' visit, she was found in "a disheveled state," Felos said, with her feeding tube wrapped around her back and a medical wristband pulled up 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.
Bush, who intervened to have Terri Schiavo's feeding tube reinserted in October, said Tuesday that he wants to know more about what happened.
"It's concerning to me, but there's no specific evidence to suggest any wrongdoing," he said. "So, let's get the information before we cast aspersions."
Bush said he asked the FDLE to monitor the investigation. Spokesman Rick Morera said the agency likely will intervene only if Clearwater police seek help.
Michael Schiavo has ordered that his wife will have no visitors until authorities 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 themwant 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 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 1439EST