Police look for 911 caller in elder abuse case
By T.J. Aulds
The Daily News
December 3, 2008
TEXAS CITY — Police on Tuesday still were searching for the person who made a 911 call that led to the discovery of a woman who was barely clinging to life.Police said they are “very confident” the man who made the call was the woman’s son and confirmed he had lived in the house where the woman was found for the past two years.
Linda Sue Sainz, 62, remained in Mainland Medical Center on Tuesday, four days after police found her on the floor of her Texas City home. Police said her home was filthy, that she was malnourished and that maggots were feeding on open sores on her back.
Police were tipped through a 911 call late Friday night by a man claiming to be Sainz’s son. When officers arrived, they found Sainz alone in the house.
Police Capt. Brian Goetschius said investigators were going through evidence at the house Sainz rented on Pecan Street in west Texas City.
Police are treating the case as one of neglect of a disabled person.
A state agency, Adult Protective Services, is conducting its own investigation.Gwen Carter, a spokeswoman for the agency, said Adult Protective Services conducted 8,366 investigations of confirmed cases of abuse or neglect of either elderly or disabled people in the 12-county region that includes Galveston County last year. That’s a 55 percent increase from the 5,400 cases investigated in 1997.
The confirmed cases of mistreatment of adults in this region last year accounted for 18 percent of the state’s cases, according to Adult Protective Services records.
Many cases could be prevented if friends, neighbors or family members paid closer attention, Carter said.
Adult abuse-neglect prevention resources: Hot line: 800-252-5400
Online: www.dfps.state.tx.us/
Abridged
SOURCE: Daily News (TX. USA)
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