NORTH MIAMI – A prominent South Florida attorney tells CBS News Miami that he is alarmed after family members say the decomposing body of a 71-year-old man with dementia is found inside a closet at a nursing home.
Loved ones say Elin Etienne was reported missing from the North Dade Nursing and Rehabilitation Center on August 22nd and they say his body was discovered on September 2nd, this past Monday.
Attorney Bill Dean said, “The bottom line is where was the staff and where was the administration? Was the facility so horribly understaffed? Why did this happen and how did this happen? This should not have happened in the 21st century.”
“Where was the administrator? Where was the director of nursing? Where was the assistant director of nursing? Where was the charge nurse?
Etienne’s niece, Rivly Breus, who has been searching for answers told CBS News Miami, “I am not surprised because most healthcare facilities are understaffed. I am concerned because he was in a closet for 12 days and that was excessive. There should have been checks every day. It is especially important for people who are impaired cognitively or mentally.” ”I am also concerned because we heard from someone who wanted to remain anonymous that my uncle was missing and the nursing center did not tell us right away when he went missing on August 22nd,” she said.