On the evening of April 13, 2020, Andover police officers, in New Jersey, investigated a tip that a facility had a body in a shed. What they found surprised the officers.
What Did They Find?
Officers that responded to the Andover Subacute and Rehab Center II did not find a body in a shed. They found that the employees needed assistance with 17 bodies in their morgue. There have been 68 recent deaths linked to the center, two of them were nurses. Authorities received complaints about the facility over the weekend. On April 12, officers investigated these complaints. Inside the holding area, where the bodies wait for transport to funeral homes, they found five bodies.
“The staff was clearly overwhelmed and probably short-staffed. The residents were expiring. We’re not sure if it’s from COVID-19 or from other diseases, but we tried our best to ease the burden,” Andover Police Chief Eric Danielson said in a statement. Unfortunately, nursing homes like Andover Subacute and Rehab are extremely vulnerable to virus transmission. Facilities around the world have restricted visitors from entering the building, to help reduce the spread of COVID-19.
What Did Officers Do About the Situation?
When the officers went into the rehab’s morgue, they found 17 bodies enclosed in body bags with proper identification tags on them. Officers helped relocate 13 of the bodies to a refrigerated trailer at the Newton Medical Center. The facility’s morgue held onto the remaining four bodies. Information about those who died and their cause of death has been withheld at this time.
According to reports, the rehab center had requested more body bags just days before officers arrived. Officials have requested information from the facility, however, due being massively understaffed they have not answered these requests.
By Sheena Robertson
Sources:
CNN: Tip leads police to 17 bodies at a New Jersey nursing home
NBC: 17 bodies crowded into tiny morgue found at New Jersey nursing home
NY DAILY NEWS: Seventeen bodies found piled into small morgue at NJ’s largest nursing home complex: report
USA TODAY: 18 bodies removed from New Jersey nursing home after complaints prompt investigation
Top and Featured Image Courtesy of Omar Bárcena’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
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