Man delivers decomposing body to NM emergency room

[April 06, 2011]  ESPANOLA, N.M. (AP) -- Police in the northern New Mexico city of Espanola say a man tried to get help at a hospital emergency room for a woman who had been dead as long as a day and a half.

Officers say Jerry Maestas drove to the hospital Tuesday with the 33-year-old woman's decomposing body propped up in the passenger seat.

The 64-year-old Maestas asked hospital staff to come outside and help his sick friend. Police spokesman Jeremy Apodaca says the staff could tell by the smell that the woman had been dead for some time.

KOB-TV reports that the woman may have been dead for 24 to 36 hours, and Maestas will face charges of failing to report a death.

Efforts to reach Maestas at two phone numbers Tuesday night didn't work.

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Information from: KOB-TV, http://www.kob.com/

[Associated Press]

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