BEDFORD, MASS. (WHDH) - The nonprofit organization, Carnitas Communities, released a statement Thursday night alleging that Veteran’s Affairs officials have accepted responsibility for the Bedford hospital stairwell where a man was found dead weeks after he went missing.
Carnitas said there was some initial confusion about who controlled access to the stairway in the building that they lease space in from the VA. However, after a conversation with officials in Washington on Wednesday, the VA admitted their initial statement on the matter was incorrect and the maintenance of the stairwell is on them, according to the release.
“Caritas searched all areas to which we had access. Though the stairwell is adjacent to our space, it is not our property. The area of the stairwell in which our resident was found is not visible from our premises. We had no idea that the resident had entered the stairwell, which is strictly off-limits to our residents other than as an emergency exit,” Karin Cassel, Executive Director of Caritas Communities wrote in a statement.
The 62-year-old man was found by another resident on June 12 after being reported missing in May, according to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office. The man was living in a part of the facility that is not operated by the Department of Veteran Affairs and Caritas Communities, which runs the facility, said it was “deeply saddened” in a statement.
Investigators say the man was last seen May 8. Caritas Communities reported him missing May 13.
He was discovered about five weeks later in the stairwell about 20 yards from his apartment wearing the same clothes he was last seen in.
Caritas provides housing for low-income individuals.
The primary relationship between Caritas and its residents is that of landlord and tenant.
“We are heartbroken at the loss of this Veteran, and the pain his family is experiencing,” the release read. “We care deeply for our residents at the BVQ and all of our houses.”
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