Missing Woman Found Dead in Hospital

09 Oct, 2013

A British-born woman who mysteriously disappeared from her San Francisco hospital bed was found dead 17 days later in a stairwell in the same medical center, after a massive search that saw tour bus operators hand out flyers, officials said on Wednesday.

A San Francisco General Hospital employee found the body of Lynne Spalding, 57, during a routine, quarterly check of the exterior stairway at the facility on Tuesday, San Francisco Assistant Sheriff Paul Miyamoto told reporters.

Miyamoto and hospital officials declined to answer any questions surrounding the death of the longtime San Francisco resident and mother, and they did not release a cause of death for her.

Spalding was admitted to the city-run hospital on September 19 and was last seen in her hospital bed on the morning of September 21, said Todd May, the hospital’s chief medical officer.

Todd May, the hospital’s chief medical officer, appeared contrite.

“What happened at our hospital is horrible,” he said. “This has shaken us to our core. We don’t know what happened to this woman.”

He added that he is “committed to getting to the root cause of this tragedy.”

Hospital officials said only she was in fair condition when she disappeared. May said the exterior stairwell where Spalding was found was locked from the outside and equipped with an alarm. It was unclear how far the stairway was from her bed.

Spalding leaves a 19-year-old son and a 23-year-old daughter.

Reuters

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