2001.03.04: March 4, 2001: Headlines: COS - El Salvador: Safety: Obituaries: Fallen: Dayton Daily News: Peace Corps' official Web site stated that the cause of 27-year-old Carlos Amador's death in El Salvador on March 4, 2001, is "still undetermined"
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2001.03.04: March 4, 2001: Headlines: COS - El Salvador: Safety: Obituaries: Fallen: Dayton Daily News: Peace Corps' official Web site stated that the cause of 27-year-old Carlos Amador's death in El Salvador on March 4, 2001, is "still undetermined"
Peace Corps' official Web site stated that the cause of 27-year-old Carlos Amador's death in El Salvador on March 4, 2001, is "still undetermined"
An April 25, 2001, official autopsy report obtained in El Salvador by the Daily News said that Amador had taken "large doses" of valium, which caused his death. Raul Osvaldo Arpas, the district attorney for the area, also said the cause was an overdose of valium. Several volunteers said the Peace Corps didn't tell them that Amador had died of a drug overdose. "They told us they couldn't tell us what happened but that he was found in his home dead and that violence was not suspected," said Bethany Scheppers of Platteville, Wis., who served in El Salvador from January to June 2001.
Peace Corps' official Web site stated that the cause of 27-year-old Carlos Amador's death in El Salvador on March 4, 2001, is "still undetermined"
Mystery deaths
Official records fail to tell complete story
By Russell Carollo and Mei-Ling Hopgood
rcarollo@DaytonDailyNews.com and mhopgood@coxnews.com
GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala | The body of 26-year-old Peace Corps volunteer Joseph Teates was found hanging from ropes attached to his neck and feet in June 1987.
His death was called an accident.
The body of 27-year-old volunteer Brian Krow was found in Ukraine under a footbridge with chest-high railings along both sides.
His death, too, was called an accident.
Wyatt Pillsbury died of an overdose of drugs and alcohol in Tanzania in 2001, but the Peace Corps' public Web site says he died of "asphyxiation due to the aspiration of undigested food which was lodged in his throat."
A 20-month Dayton Daily News examination found that the United States government failed to reveal the full truth about the deaths of at least 10 Peace Corps volunteers who died over a 30-year period.
"I personally never believed them when they said it was an accidental death," said Ronda Thorne, who learned through records obtained by the Daily News that her brother, 25-year-old Jerry Dean Bryan of Spokane, Wash., had a history of alcohol and drug abuse before he died of a barbiturate overdose in Brazil in 1978.
Records from the State Department detailing the events prior to Bryan’s death said, "Should not reveal full story."
Using never-before-released records from the Peace Corps’ Deaths in Service computer database, the Daily News re-examined deaths in the Peace Corps since 1962. The newspaper also obtained new information in foreign countries and through a federal lawsuit the newspaper filed against the Peace Corps, which originally refused to release the records.
In 10 cases, the examination found that the agency misled or failed to provide essential details to the families, to the public or to other volunteers about the circumstances of how volunteers died. In at least six other cases, the Daily News found that circumstances other than those suggested by the Peace Corps were possible and that the deaths remain mysteries.
Other deaths, too, warranted further examination. But Peace Corps deaths have occurred in more than 60 countries, most with primitive record-keeping systems, and many happened more than 20 years ago, making it impossible to verify the information provided by the Peace Corps in every case.
Several families said they learned critical details about the deaths of their loved ones after being contacted by the Dayton Daily News.
Other families suspected the agency wasn't telling them the truth, but they have little means to investigate cases in foreign countries.
"I always felt like I got the runaround from them, like they were protecting themselves," said Stacy Krow, who believes her brother, Brian, either committed suicide or was killed in Ukraine in 1999.
In a written response, the Peace Corps says it relies on the causes of death as officially determined by local authorities, who are responsible for making such determinations.
"The Peace Corps is not the official investigating authority in any death of a volunteer," the response says. "Local authorities in country are in charge and report any official causes, details or other facts they believe to be true."
[Excerpt]
In 2001, two Peace Corps volunteers died of drug overdoses four months apart, records show.
News of two drug overdose deaths that close together might have raised alarms, especially since the Peace Corps is responsible for the health and safety of approximately 7,000 Americans — many of them young and in a foreign country for the first time.
But details of the deaths were never fully disclosed to the public or to Peace Corps volunteers.
As of last week, the Peace Corps' official Web site stated that the cause of 27-year-old Carlos Amador's death in El Salvador on March 4, 2001, is "still undetermined."
An April 25, 2001, official autopsy report obtained in El Salvador by the Daily News said that Amador had taken "large doses" of valium, which caused his death. Raul Osvaldo Arpas, the district attorney for the area, also said the cause was an overdose of valium.
Amador's girlfriend, Judith Hidalgo, said during an interview in San Salvador that she had seen him take the drug. The Peace Corps, she said, rarely checked on Amador, who planted trees as a forestry volunteer.
"They just called him to let him know there was a conference," Hidalgo said. "To me, the Peace Corps should be more attentive, checking on volunteers to see if they need something."
Two volunteers said they and other volunteers were aware Amador was abusing drugs, and the Peace Corps country director said volunteers came to him after Amador's death upset that they didn't intervene earlier.
Several volunteers said the Peace Corps didn't tell them that Amador had died of a drug overdose.
"They told us they couldn't tell us what happened but that he was found in his home dead and that violence was not suspected," said Bethany Scheppers of Platteville, Wis., who served in El Salvador from January to June 2001.
Samuel Crane of St. Petersburg, Fla., who served in El Salvador from January to October 2001, recalled that the Peace Corps tried to convince volunteers that the cause of Amador's death was a prescription medication error, even warning volunteers to be careful when they used pharmacies there.
Mike Wise, the Peace Corps country director in El Salvador, said he wasn't aware of the autopsy ruling, made April 25, 2001, but that he knew an empty container of valium was found in Amador's room.
"After the night I attended the autopsy and had my initial discussions with the pathologist and learned that valium had been found — an empty valium container had been found in Carlos' room — yes, I equivocated in what I told volunteers because we weren't sure that that was the cause," Wise said during an interview in his San Salvador office.
"Obviously, he was in strict violation of Peace Corps policies," Wise said. "Volunteers are not allowed to buy aspirin on the local market, birth control pills, nothing. We give them absolutely everything."
Amador's father, Carlos M. Amador Sr., questioned the findings by authorities in El Salvador that his son died of a drug overdose, and he said he was working to have the official record changed.
"We have evidence that the handling of the sampling around Carlos' forensic testing was not done right," the father said.
Links to Related Topics (Tags):
Peace Corps Annual Report: 2001; Peace Corps El Salvador; Directory of El Salvador RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for El Salvador RPCVs; Safety and Security of Volunteers; Obituaries; Fallen
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Story Source: Dayton Daily News
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - El Salvador; Safety; Obituaries; Fallen
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