State Examining Death Of Missing Vet Found In VA Hospital

Massachusetts authorities are investigating the death of a 62-year-old military veteran whose body was found in the stairwell of the Bedford Veterans Affairs Medical Center more than a month after he went missing from a nearby residential community.

The man's body was found Friday in the same clothes he was wearing when he was last seen May 8, the Middlesex District Attorney's office announced Tuesday. He was reported missing May 13 by an employee of Caritas Communities, which operates a residential home for veterans on the campus of the VA hospital.

The door to the stairwell where his body was found is in the same building he was living in and is about 20 yards from his room at Caritas Communities, the district attorney's office said. His body was found by another resident at the facility, and it appears he had been dead for an "extended period," the office said.

Investigators will examine the policies and procedures at the facility, as well as the relationship between the hospital and Caritas.

The man's identity has not been released. A preliminary report from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner suggests there was no trauma, and there is no foul play suspected.