Death of Alzheimer’s patient who left nursing home probed

Angie Wagner

Thursday, June 17, 1999 | 11:38 a.m.

Authorities are trying to determine what killed a 91-year-old Alzheimer's patient whose sunburned body was found several hours after she wandered away from a North Las Vegas nursing home in triple-digit heat.

Workers at the North Las Vegas Care Center, 3215 E. Cheyenne Ave., found the body of Margarete Sheets by a nearby storage shed Saturday evening.

Sheets apparently was able to leave the facility around 4 p.m. or a short time later through a door that was supposed to have an alarm on it, North Las Vegas Police Lt. Joe Forti said Wednesday.

Workers found Sheets about 7 p.m. She had collapsed by the shed on the facility's grounds.

Forti said the woman was severely sunburned.

The Clark County coroner's office conducted an autopsy Wednesday, but a cause of death will not be released until investigators receive results from toxicology tests.

"The lady was outside for a length of time and her body was not in too good condition," said Jim Becvar, chief investigator for the coroner's office.

Forti said police determined the nursing home was not criminally negligent in the woman's death.

Lisa Jones, a health facilities surveyor with the Nevada State Bureau of Licensure and Certification, said the center was cited for 12 deficiencies in February and none of the deficiencies were listed as serious.

Frank Bellinger, administrator at the North Las Vegas Care Center, said today that he is not authorized to talk about the incident. He said he is awaiting instructions from his corporate office.

A similar incident occurred earlier this month in Phoenix when an 86-year-old Alzheimer's patient was left on a nursing home patio long enough to suffer a sunburn that killed her.

Mary Miles, a patient at SunRise Thunderbird Care and Rehabilitation, died June 6 from burns she suffered May 18 to her feet, legs, arms and neck. Doctors had amputated her legs in an attempt to save her.

Sun reporter

Art Nadler contributed to this story.