Missing patient’s body found in hospital warehouse morgue a year after death
Jessie Peterson, age 31, was a diabetic. She was admitted to Mercy San Juan Medical Center in California due to a diabetic crisis, but passed away on April 8th, 2023, while still in the hospital. Hospital records did not show the death, but instead inaccurately reported that she had discharged herself against medical advice. Her family was never notified that she had died in the hospital, so they filed a missing person’s report and searched for her for an entire year. Eventually, Sacramento County Detectives discovered the patient’s badly decomposed body in the hospital’s offsite warehouse morgue facility and notified her family of her death. It was one year and four days after she had died. Other families have reported similar issues with this hospital system. Jessie’s family is suing for $5 million in compensatory damages and is also seeking punitive damages to punish the hospital for its inexcusable conduct.