Medical Examiner latest to screw up

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Valuables vanish from corpse at Broward morgue
Cedrick Camper, who died in a May 26 car crash in Fort Lauderdale. His earrings and $500 in cash were found on his body, and later vanished from the Broward County morgue.
Cedrick Camper, who died in a May 26 car crash in Fort Lauderdale. His earrings and $500 in cash were found on his body, and later vanished from the Broward County morgue. (Vernesia Rozier, courtesy)
Linda Trischitta Linda TrischittaContact Reporter
Sun Sentinel
Earrings and $500 vanish from corpse at Broward County morgue

A roll of cash and a pair of earrings found on a corpse at the Broward County morgue have disappeared, officials said.

"I'm not at all happy about it," Broward County Medical Examiner Dr. Craig Mallak said about the $500 and jewelry that vanished. The value of the earrings was not determined.

The case is being investigated by the Broward Sheriff's Office, and on Friday, a spokeswoman for that agency and Mallak both said there were no updates.

"This is the first time this has happened in my career," Mallak said. "I've never had anything disappear."

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The missing property belonged to Cedrick Camper, 41, who lived in Fort Lauderdale. He and his passenger Otis Harvey, 37, of Sunrise, died May 26 after a fiery Fort Lauderdale crash, when Camper's Dodge Challenger collided with a charter bus.

Driver, passenger killed after car, charter bus crash in Fort Lauderdale
Driver, passenger killed after car, charter bus crash in Fort Lauderdale
When Camper's body was examined the next morning, the money was found in one of his socks, and two clear stone earrings were found in his hair.

It was unusual to have valuables on a deceased person who is brought to the morgue for examination, because personal effects are usually gathered by police before then.

Dr. Michael Steckbauer, 44, the former deputy chief medical examiner, was on duty that day. He counted the money, and sealed it and the jewelry in an envelope, according to a deputy's report.

The envelope went missing, Steckbauer told a sheriff's deputy. Camper's remains and the morgue's garbage were X-rayed in the effort to find his belongings.

"I don't know if it was stolen or thrown out accidentally," said Mallak, who said he was attending a medical examiner's commission meeting in Sarasota at that time.

Steckbauer has since left the agency and is deployed as a U.S. Army flight surgeon to Kuwait. After contacting him by email, further efforts to reach him were not successful.

Mallak made restitution of $1,000 to Camper's estate.

"I knew that [Cedrick] had the cash, but I was under the impression that the police department had all of his belongings for the investigation," said Vernesia Rozier, 38.

She said she was Camper's girlfriend for more than two decades and that they have three children together. Camper, a club promoter, was the father of seven additional children, she said.

"I expected to get [the valuables] back from [police] eventually," Rozier said.

But she said she kept getting calls from the medical examiner's office, asking her to come to the Fort Lauderdale office, where she eventually met with Mallak.

"He was very upset about the whole situation and said he was going to get to the bottom of it, one way or the other," Rozier said. "I was surprised and had never heard of something like that happening, the theft. I was impressed.

"It could have went untold," Rozier said. "I thought it was decent of them to tell me."

ltrischitta@sunsentinel.com, 954-356-4233 or Twitter @LindaTrischitta

[Unregistered]

Valuables vanish from corpse at Broward morgue
Cedrick Camper, who died in a May 26 car crash in Fort Lauderdale. His earrings and $500 in cash were found on his body, and later vanished from the Broward County morgue.
Cedrick Camper, who died in a May 26 car crash in Fort Lauderdale. His earrings and $500 in cash were found on his body, and later vanished from the Broward County morgue. (Vernesia Rozier, courtesy)
Linda Trischitta Linda TrischittaContact Reporter
Sun Sentinel
Earrings and $500 vanish from corpse at Broward County morgue

A roll of cash and a pair of earrings found on a corpse at the Broward County morgue have disappeared, officials said.

"I'm not at all happy about it," Broward County Medical Examiner Dr. Craig Mallak said about the $500 and jewelry that vanished. The value of the earrings was not determined.

The case is being investigated by the Broward Sheriff's Office, and on Friday, a spokeswoman for that agency and Mallak both said there were no updates.

"This is the first time this has happened in my career," Mallak said. "I've never had anything disappear."

Promoted stories from PoliticsChatter.com


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Flashback: Hillary Clinton through the years
The missing property belonged to Cedrick Camper, 41, who lived in Fort Lauderdale. He and his passenger Otis Harvey, 37, of Sunrise, died May 26 after a fiery Fort Lauderdale crash, when Camper's Dodge Challenger collided with a charter bus.

Driver, passenger killed after car, charter bus crash in Fort Lauderdale
Driver, passenger killed after car, charter bus crash in Fort Lauderdale
When Camper's body was examined the next morning, the money was found in one of his socks, and two clear stone earrings were found in his hair.

It was unusual to have valuables on a deceased person who is brought to the morgue for examination, because personal effects are usually gathered by police before then.

Dr. Michael Steckbauer, 44, the former deputy chief medical examiner, was on duty that day. He counted the money, and sealed it and the jewelry in an envelope, according to a deputy's report.

The envelope went missing, Steckbauer told a sheriff's deputy. Camper's remains and the morgue's garbage were X-rayed in the effort to find his belongings.

"I don't know if it was stolen or thrown out accidentally," said Mallak, who said he was attending a medical examiner's commission meeting in Sarasota at that time.

Steckbauer has since left the agency and is deployed as a U.S. Army flight surgeon to Kuwait. After contacting him by email, further efforts to reach him were not successful.

Mallak made restitution of $1,000 to Camper's estate.

"I knew that [Cedrick] had the cash, but I was under the impression that the police department had all of his belongings for the investigation," said Vernesia Rozier, 38.

She said she was Camper's girlfriend for more than two decades and that they have three children together. Camper, a club promoter, was the father of seven additional children, she said.

"I expected to get [the valuables] back from [police] eventually," Rozier said.

But she said she kept getting calls from the medical examiner's office, asking her to come to the Fort Lauderdale office, where she eventually met with Mallak.

"He was very upset about the whole situation and said he was going to get to the bottom of it, one way or the other," Rozier said. "I was surprised and had never heard of something like that happening, the theft. I was impressed.

"It could have went untold," Rozier said. "I thought it was decent of them to tell me."

ltrischitta@sunsentinel.com, 954-356-4233 or Twitter @LindaTrischitta

I guess you're catching up on old news. That was 2-3 days ago. Glad to see you keep up on things. Moron

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I guess you're catching up on old news. That was 2-3 days ago. Glad to see you keep up on things. Moron

I fully agree dude what a douche bag idiot with nothing better to do in his dumb life!

[Unregistered]

He knew police impound it so he should have called whoever was involved in the case and had them pick it up. There is a chain of custody so he should have waited for them to come and get it. All it would have taken is one phone call as soon as it was found and then back to the autopsy. The student there learned a very important lesson that will never forget at the end of the day.