Dead Body Travels 1,000 Miles on Amtrak — Here’s a woman who knows how to save money!
An Amtrak passenger traveling with her ailing father waited nearly 23 hours and about 1,000 miles to tell authorities he had died so she could avoid the cost of shipping the body home, police said.
The train had reached Chicago when Daniel Stepanovich’s daughter told officials that he had died in a sleeper car on Sunday evening, about the time the train was pulling into Glenwood Springs, Colo., said Chicago Police spokeswoman Jo Ann Taylor.
The woman told police she couldn’t afford to ship his body home. She said Stepanovich, 80, suffered from lung and brain cancer.
People in this nation don’t help one another enough. The United States is becoming a cold hearted country. You shouldn’t need to do stuff like this over a few bucks.
Has anyone seen Collateral?
Vacation!
I assume, since he was on the train, a ticket had been purchased for him. Does your ticket expire if you do?
To the old gent who passed away, RIP. If his death was a peaceful one, there are worse places to check out than rolling through the Rockies in a sleeper car on a train. It beats being hard wired to the nursing desk at County Couldn’t Give A Shit Less General until the time comes, followed by twenty minutes of “respectful” viewing for the family and then being zip-locked and parked in a stainless steel morgue drawer.
As for his daughter not letting somebody know, so they could stop the train, call the police, wait for the coroner, force her to deal with the death alone in a strange place, negotiate mortuary arrangements and probably, at best, be held for 24 hours until the next Amtrak passed through… well, good move, your Dad should be proud of you. If she is charged with anything, it should be “Failure to be stupid”.
This sent me to the bookshelf — Edith Wharton’s “A Journey”, 1899.
http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext05/7grcl10.txt
#5: “If it were known that he was dead they would be put off the train at the next station –”
Since it’s by Mrs. Wharton, the story principally concerns the internal dilemma over the social implications (and the dilemmee faints at the end – dear Mrs. Wharton’s art does fail me sometimes).
That principle still seems to apply in this case though.
Take the time to read the work AM linked if you haven’t. It is a great follow-up to this story. Nice job.
“It is easier to ask forgiveness than permission.”
Since he was in a sleeper car, I’m assuming he was already laying down for the trip. That means no “Weekend at Bernie’s” type complications if he were sitting in a passenger car. I agree with #5, it beats dumping him far from home at a place that might have little compassion. I’m sure she just wanted to get home ASAP, and the check was already in the mail, so to speak. Wouldn’t have bothered me to share a train or even cabin with the guy. Let this one quitely slip into obscurity. Legal proceedings are likely to accomplish nothing except increasing the agony of losing a loved one. Allowing someone a little dignity and respect at a time of loss is human gesture we could all stand to see more of.
I would have never admitted to finding out he was dead much earlier in the trip. A shocked look and tears at the destination should have been enough.
Why even pay for local transport? Ask a porter for a wheelchair and taxi him straight to the mortuary.
You think I’m joking? Preparations for a death in the family is outrageously expensive adn a burden on the family.
Hey, I’m with her all the way! (In spirit I mean).
Over the last 100 years the mortuary and death industry has lobbied state legislators to pass many laws to protect themselves. They use the veil of public health and safety, but that’s often a bunch of BS. They charge you hundreds for a leak proof DOT shipping container. It’s a wax coated corrugated cardboard box. They use the same thing for cremation containers.
Heh, I once led the cops on a low speed chase for three blocks so my car wouldn’t be towed to the impound yard. I was arrested, however, I was not charged because the cops in my old town are and were deeply stupid. The whole experience only cost me $50.
I wonder if this was her plan from the start – obviously she would of at least had doubts about her father’s ability to survive the trip, given his poor health. In any case, I thought it was funny in the linked article when the Amtrak rep was quoted as saying “he couldn’t recall a situation in which a passenger’s death went unreported for so long.” … It almost makes people dying on the train sound like a normal event …
I’ll bet the conversation wasn’t very lively.
1000 miles in 23 hours, thats like 40mph? No wonder I never take Amtrack.
Considering the financial state of Amtrak, this might be a good marketing ploy. “It’s fun even when you’re dead!”
“People in this nation don’t help one another enough. The United States is becoming a cold hearted country. You shouldn’t need to do stuff like this over a few bucks.:”
So… the enlightened European (or whoever) would have had the authorities remove the body to the morgue, do an investigation, and then ship the body home at no cost to the family? Give me a break. Dying is expensive – wherever you live…err.. die. This lady was smart enough to take advantage of the situation.
Agree with sirfelix, though. Why admit it? Pretend you thought he was sleeping.
The trip through Colorado bored him to death.
I just knew that train coffee was going to kill someone some day.
Ok, so his ticket was paid for. what else did you want Amtrack to do, provide stimulating conversation too?
Reminds me of a few years ago. A man dies in Arizona, I believe, while on vacation with his son. His son packed him in ice and drove all the way back to southern Ontario in their RV, only acknowledging the dead man when he crossed the border. After it was determined the man died of natural causes, the matter was dropped because the son had not broken any laws in either country.