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It's just a local Anchorage, Alaska news item today, but it presents yet another example of why people have so little confidence in the performance of officials:
Anchorage police say a man announced as missing Thursday had been dead for more than a week, with police saying his body was already at the state medical examiner's office as officers began to search for him. More details on George Nathan Krause's death came to light Friday, following a confusing sequence of events that saw local media briefly announce online that he had been found alive Thursday evening. APD spokesperson Anita Shell says Krause, 55, died after falling ill Dec. 12 in Midtown. A caller reported that he was on his knees and clutching his chest on Juneau Street, less than half a block from his apartment. Medics responded to the scene and took Krause to Providence Alaska Medical Center, but he was pronounced dead at the hospital. While Shell says Krause's body was taken to the medical examiner's office with his identification still in his pocket, personnel at the medical examiner's office say the body was never in their custody. More than a week later on Dec. 18, Krause's mother -- who often went out on weekends with him -- visited his apartment and had the landlord open the residence, but she couldn't find him and reported him as missing to APD. Police subsequently released information on Krause as a missing-persons case to local media Thursday. Officers looking for Krause called Providence and asked if he was there, but hospital staff had no active records for him. According to Shell, personnel from the medical examiner's office didn't identify Krause until they saw a picture of him Thursday night on TV news reports that he was missing. Shell called local media Thursday night and said Krause had been "located," but didn't state his condition -- a detail she said had been omitted from her initial update because his next of kin hadn't yet been notified. In a subsequent email that evening, she asked reporters to "cancel any news coverage" of Krause.
I love that last line about "cancel any news coverage". You can bet these Keystone Kops would love to have this story retroactively canceled.
caw
Anchorage police say a man announced as missing Thursday had been dead for more than a week, with police saying his body was already at the state medical examiner's office as officers began to search for him. More details on George Nathan Krause's death came to light Friday, following a confusing sequence of events that saw local media briefly announce online that he had been found alive Thursday evening. APD spokesperson Anita Shell says Krause, 55, died after falling ill Dec. 12 in Midtown. A caller reported that he was on his knees and clutching his chest on Juneau Street, less than half a block from his apartment. Medics responded to the scene and took Krause to Providence Alaska Medical Center, but he was pronounced dead at the hospital. While Shell says Krause's body was taken to the medical examiner's office with his identification still in his pocket, personnel at the medical examiner's office say the body was never in their custody. More than a week later on Dec. 18, Krause's mother -- who often went out on weekends with him -- visited his apartment and had the landlord open the residence, but she couldn't find him and reported him as missing to APD. Police subsequently released information on Krause as a missing-persons case to local media Thursday. Officers looking for Krause called Providence and asked if he was there, but hospital staff had no active records for him. According to Shell, personnel from the medical examiner's office didn't identify Krause until they saw a picture of him Thursday night on TV news reports that he was missing. Shell called local media Thursday night and said Krause had been "located," but didn't state his condition -- a detail she said had been omitted from her initial update because his next of kin hadn't yet been notified. In a subsequent email that evening, she asked reporters to "cancel any news coverage" of Krause.
I love that last line about "cancel any news coverage". You can bet these Keystone Kops would love to have this story retroactively canceled.
caw