Body Found in Hospital Stairwell Is Missing Patient

She disappeared from room last month
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Oct 9, 2013 2:37 PM CDT
Body Found in Hospital Stairwell Is Missing Patient
A view of San Francisco General Hospital.   (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

A body discovered in a San Francisco hospital stairwell was that of a female patient at the facility who disappeared more than two weeks ago, hospital officials said today. San Francisco General Hospital Chief Medical Officer Todd May said officials were still awaiting confirmation on the identity from the medical examiner's office, but he said hospital officials had enough information to conclude it was 57-year-old Lynne Spalding's body.

Sheriff's officials don't know how she died, how long she had been in the stairwell, or how she got there. "What happened at our hospital is horrible," May said. "This has shaken us to our core. Our staff is devastated." Spalding was being treated at the hospital for an infection when she disappeared Sept. 21. She was found yesterday. Friends who saw her last say she was thin and frail, on medication, and confused. (More missing woman stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X