Real fat dead bitch hauled away on flatbed to embarrassment of family

[Grimmlok]

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Marion County Coroner's Office has come under fire after it was revealed that an obese woman was dragged from her home and hauled away on a trailer in front of family members following her death.

Teresa Smith, 48, who weighed 750 pounds, died Tuesday in her apartment on Indianapolis' northeast side.

Officials at the scene told 6News' Jack Rinehart that the deputy coroner made the decision to call a towing service to remove the body from the home.

"We debated for quite a while about how we were going to get her out of there and so we finally decided, since we didn't have a van that was large enough to carry her, it was decided between (the police) department and the coroner's office to use (the truck)," said Detective Marcus Kennedy.

Smith's boyfriend and the couple's 13-year-old son, along with several neighbors, watched as Smith's body, still on her mattress, was dragged across the courtyard of the apartment complex, strapped down on the wrecker and covered with a piece of carpet.

"I think they should have handled it differently, putting her on a flatbed like they did. That was like putting a cow up there," said Smith's boyfriend, David Johnson.

Neighbors said they were also disturbed by the ordeal.

"What really got me is when they took her off onto the flatbed, they threw this dirty, dirty carpet on top of her, and I just thought that was so disrespectful," said a neighbor, who did not want to be identified. "I would have never let them throw that on my loved one."

Once on the truck, Smith's body was escorted by police downtown to the coroner's office.

Former Chief Deputy Coroner John Linehan said he was shocked and dismayed that appropriate steps weren't taken to remove the woman from her home.

He said that fire and medical personnel have equipment available for handling patients up to 1,000 pounds and that moving obese individuals is not all that rare of an occurrence.

"When they scoop up dead dogs off of the street they don't treat them that way," he said. "It's just not the way to treat a human being."

Chief Deputy Coroner Alfarena Ballew told Rinehart by phone Wednesday that a flatbed truck has been used in other occasions to move obese individuals. She said the office is now looking for a way to transport Smith's body from the morgue to the funeral home.

The Indiana State Coroner's Association said it has no specific recommendations to handle extremely obese people. The decision is left up to each county.

Obese Woman Dragged From Home, Hauled Away After Death - Indiana News Story - WRTV Indianapolis

LOLZ

[*DIVA!]

Gilbert Grape comes to mind...

[Mel1973]

the only thing missing is the "wide load" banner across the back...

[Grimmlok]

She could have gone on a joyride with cakeboy..

[ConstanceSpry]

750 pounds? How do they bury someone like that? Do you have to buy a double casket? 2 funeral plots? Do they fit into a crematorium if you want to have them cremated?

[greysfang]

Well how the fuck were they supposed to take her away? I mean, seriously.

[kingcap72]

Well, if she hadn't ballooned to 750 pounds then they could've taken her out like a normal person and not like a beached whale. Her family needs to put the blame where it belongs, on her. Although they could've shown a little more respect for her body.

[Charmed Hour]

Well how the fuck were they supposed to take her away? I mean, seriously.

For me, it's understandable they needed to use a tow truck. She was a huge woman. However, if they dragged her across the yard on the mattress and covered her with a dirty carpet, that's just wrong and disrespectful to me.

A few fire and police personnel could have easily managed to carry her out and place her on the flatbed where she could have been covered with something other than a dirty rug.

[Grimmlok]

750 pounds? How do they bury someone like that?

[Sweetie]

The way I see it is....she clearly had no respect for her body so why should any one else?

[Sasha]

Well how the fuck were they supposed to take her away? I mean, seriously.

From the article:

He said that fire and medical personnel have equipment available for handling patients up to 1,000 pounds and that moving obese individuals is not all that rare of an occurrence

This was horribly disrespectful. And throwing a dirty carpet on her! sheesh....

[NicoleWasHere]

Omg dude.

[blissfullyunaware]

750 pounds? How do they bury someone like that? Do you have to buy a double casket? 2 funeral plots? Do they fit into a crematorium if you want to have them cremated?

They (funeral home) can rarely cremate someone who is massively obese because all the melting fat is a fire hazard. They 'usually' have to buy a huge casket & a larger plot.

I think the situation could have been handled in a much better way. She went to 750lbs on her own but at this point,the family should have been taken into consideration when they took her to the morgue.The way it was handled was so disrespectful. It's sad that there is/was such a lack of compassion for this woman.

[MrsDark]

Dirty carpet thrown over is pretty shitty. I mean, how hard is it to find a sheet or something decent, FFS?

[RevellingInSane]

They are lucky to find something big enough to cover her. A king size sheet would have looked like a hand towel on her.

Why was she 750 pounds? If the neighbors want to bitch, why didn't they remove her "respectfully"?

The other alternative was cutting the body into smaller portions, so they better be glad. These people, while wrong and should face consequences for their shoddy work, could have been even more disgusting in their behavior. Welcome to America, land of the cold, home of the apathetic.