A Tanning Bed and a Foul Smell

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

In what sounds like a cascading series of failures to  use established protocols and common sense, a 39-year-old Indiana man apparently died in a tanning bed at a commercial fitness center last weekend and his death in the business facility went unnoticed for three days.

The man had left his girlfriend and her daughter shopping at a local department store on Friday, November 8th, and walked to a nearby fitness center (a member of a national franchise) to inquire about a membership.  There he apparently joined, went to one of the center's tanning rooms, possibly injected drugs (a syringe was later found in the tanning room), and then got into a tanning bed where he died.  Even though the center was reportedly open throughout the weekend, the man's body was not discovered until the next Monday when customers began complaining about a "foul" smell coming from the tanning area.

Failure #1:  An open business failed to notice that the door to one of its tanning rooms remained closed during three business days.

The man had been arrested and brought to trial last year on a charge of narcotics possession and possession of controlled substances, and he had entered a plea arrangement which confined him at home for a year wearing an ankle bracelet and under the supervision of a probation officer.

Failure #2:  Whoever was responsible for monitoring the location of the ankle bracelet over the weekend apparently did not notice that it was no longer located at the man's residence.

The man's girlfriend reported him missing to the police when he had not returned home on Sunday morning.  One news report says that he was found by police on Monday when they followed up by searching at his last known location.   Another report indicates that he was found by his probation officer.  Interestingly, he was apparently not found by staff members of the fitness center, even though customers told the press that they had reported the bad smell in the tanning area to employees of the business.  Evidence from the ankle bracelet shows that the man never left the facility after entering on Friday, November 8th.

Failure #3:  There was no immediate clamor from the man's family or support group to locate him when he initially disappeared.

The man's mother said that she anticipated that when her son's toxicology report comes back it will show that he had fentanyl in his system.  She referred to him as "a human being with value and worth," and said he was "the kindest person" with "the softest heart."   Other family reports indicate that the man "struggled with drugs."

Now, it would seem, his struggles are over.

The Lesson:  We need to be looking out for one another whether it is our job to do so, or our family responsibility, or simply because it is just the right thing to do.