Examiners test bones for clues

While investigators wait for autopsy results, they review the deaths of other elderly patients at a Seminole elderly care home.

By MAUREEN BYRNE and DEBORAH O'NEIL

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 2, 2001

SEMINOLE -- Investigators are at a standstill as officials continue the painstaking process of identifying two bodies unearthed last weekend in a Seminole back yard.

All that remains of both bodies is skeletal. And one body is almost entirely encased in cement.

"Using the word "autopsy' is a little misleading. It's more of an archaeological process than an autopsy," said Larry Bedore, director of operations for the Pinellas Medical Examiner's Office, who could not say exactly when the autopsies will be completed. "We're dealing primarily with bones."

The two women's bodies were found in the back yard of Barbara Gotsis, 60, who cared for elderly individuals in her home at 11488 Robert Drive.

Gotsis had been found dead in her back yard a week earlier, on April 22, after apparently falling off a ladder as she tried to hang a tire swing.

Her autopsy has been completed, but a cause of death has not been determined, pending the outcome of toxicology tests.

The sheriff's office on Tuesday said eight elderly patients, two men and six women ages 68 to 98, have died while under Barbara Gotsis' care since 1992.

Records show the cases were all closed because authorities found nothing suspicious.

Investigators want to know whether the two unidentified bodies are those of two missing women who were in Gotsis' care.

One of the missing women, identified as Mary, has not been seen by her relatives since April 27, 2000.

A lawyer for the family, Bill Foster of St. Petersburg, said he is certain one of the bodies is Mary, the sister-in-law of his client, who paid Gotsis $2,500 monthly to care for the 91-year-old.

Foster said he thinks Gotsis may have defrauded his client out of as much as $30,000, and the Sheriff's Office is investigating for fraud.

"Until the medical examiner makes a determination of the two skeletal remains, we're just kind of in limbo right now," said Lt. Steve Shipman of the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.

Authorities said Gotsis' husband, Demosthenes Gotsis, and her daughter, Nancy Crawley, who lived at the home with her, have been cooperating. They are not considered suspects.

"They seemed genuinely as confused by it as anybody else," Shipman said, adding that "it's quite possible" Barbara Gotsis could have buried the bodies by herself.

Sheriff's spokesman Cal Dennie said people are required to report deaths to authorities.

Failing to do so is a misdemeanor by state law.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

Caregiver faced scrutiny in past

Bodies found in yard may be missing elderly women

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright