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Changes in law make it easier for authorities to track down relatives
By Marilyn Miller
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Sunday, Oct 26, 2008
Finding out a loved one has died is difficult enough, but receiving such information over the phone from a perfect stranger hours — or even days — after the fact makes it even more painful.
''I know there is no easy way to tell anyone that a loved one has died,'' said Carmela Wiant, a resident of Mechanicsburg, a town between Columbus and Dayton. ''But I knew there was a better way,''
Wiant's 23-year-old son, David Money, was killed in an auto accident in Columbus on Aug. 6, 2007.
Now, a new Ohio law that bears his name makes it easier and faster for law enforcement to notify loved ones when a death occurs. Anyone with an Ohio driver's license can register next-of-kin information with the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
Wiant found out about her son's death after first getting a call from her son's girlfriend saying that David had been in an accident. No other details were known.
She contacted the sheriff's department and got the name and number of a hospital.
When she called the hospital and asked if David Money was there, the answer was, ''Yes.''
Relieved that she had at least found her son, she told the man on the other end of the line that she would be there in 40 minutes. He told her that she needn't rush.
''Why not? Are you trying to tell me he's dead?'' she recalled asking.
''Yes, I am,'' he said.
She dropped the phone, and when she picked it up again, there was no one on the other end.
After composing herself, Wiant called the hospital back and lashed out at the same stranger who told her the news: ''How dare you tell someone something like that over the phone. . . . You didn't know if I was alone or what state of mind I was in.''
Wiant's way of dealing with the pain was to find a way to ensure that no other parent or family member would have to learn about a loved one's death the way she did.
She began researching the situation and heard horror stories from sheriff's departments on how it sometimes took days to reach relatives, noting that college students could be the hardest cases because of the various addresses they use.
Often, the State Highway Patrol is the first agency to respond to a fatal crash.
''The first thing we do is to try to identify the victim,'' said Lt. Eric Sheppard of the Summit/Stark Highway Patrol Post. ''We immediately try to find a driver's license or Social Security card. . . . Then it's a matter of trying to run down the address in an attempt to find the nearest relative. Sometimes the address is unknown because the person did not update their records.''
Sheppard said the most difficult cases involve people from out of town in which the department has to rely on outside-the-state agencies to get information. It is also hard to locate young adults.
''It is not out of the ordinary to take a day or more to notify next of kin,'' he said. ''We really try hard to make that just a matter of hours.''
In a conversation between Wiant and Sgt. Carl Hickey of the Franklin County Sheriff's Department, the two came up with a solution: Set up a next-of-kin database at the BMV and have people update it when they renew their driver's license.
Wiant met with her state senator, Keith Faber, who drafted a bill called the Money-Burge Act. It was named for her son and another crash victim.
Steve Burge, 33, died in February 2007, the day after he crashed his pickup truck near his Columbus home. It took seven hours before his mother, Linda Wuestenberg, who also lived in Columbus, could be notified.
The bill became law a year to the date of Money's death and the BMV had the database up and running on Sept. 8.
Ohioans can go to any BMV deputy registrar location to register their next of kin. Or, they can go to the Web site http://www.bmv.ohio.gov, print out the form and mail it to: Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles, Attn: Record Clearance Unit, P.O. Box 16784, Columbus, OH 43216-6784.
''To date, we have 45,364 people who have signed up for next-of-kin registration online and 2,469 have been manually entered,'' said Lindsey Bohrer of the Ohio Department of Public Safety.
Only emergency personnel and BMV employees have access to the database.
''We encourage everyone to sign up because in emergency situations, every second counts,'' Bohrer said.
Marilyn Miller can be reached at 330-996-3098 or mmiller@thebeaconjournal.com.
Finding out a loved one has died is difficult enough, but receiving such information over the phone from a perfect stranger hours — or even days — after the fact makes it even more painful.
Get the full article here.
Comments
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akron, oh
Posted 09:21 PM, 10/26/2008
Please register BEFORE Looking at the balance of your 401k....
Especially if you have any heart troubles......
