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A Husband's Efforts Came Too Late
New York Times ^ | October 5, 2007 | John Eligon

Posted on 10/06/2007 12:15:35 PM PDT by yorkie

Carol Gotbaum was already dead by the time her husband, Noah, made frantic telephone calls to the airport where she had been arrested to try to warn the authorities that she was “suicidal” and “alcohol abusive,” the Phoenix Police Department said on Friday.

According to preliminary information from the Aviation Communication Center at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, Mr. Gotbaum’s first call was received at 4:39 p.m., a little more than an hour after his wife had been pronounced dead, said Sgt. Andy Hill, a spokesman for the Phoenix police.

The authorities released a statement Friday night saying that they reviewed all phone calls received by the airport after 12 noon on Sept. 28 and confirmed the time of Mr. Gotbaum’s first call. This confirms as well that Mrs. Gotbaum was dead before that first call.

Transcripts of Mr. Gotbaum’s three calls from New York, released on Thursday as part of a police report on Ms. Gotbaum’s death, provide a chilling account of a husband’s efforts to reach his wife. He had last heard from her hours earlier, and she was upset and angry about missing a connecting flight to Tucson, the transcripts indicate.

They show that Mr. Gotbaum grew frustrated because airport operators were unable to give him information about his wife’s status.

During his final conversation with an airport operator, Mr. Gotbaum said: “I have no idea where she is. I haven’t talked to her. All I know is what you’ve told me and what I imagine has happened.”

What Mr. Gotbaum did not know was that his wife was dead...

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: Arizona
KEYWORDS: gotbaum
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1 posted on 10/06/2007 12:15:36 PM PDT by yorkie
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To: yorkie

So what drugs was she taking....to get all hyped up and out of control? The family only talks of alcohol issues....but I’m betting she had lots of issues.


2 posted on 10/06/2007 12:17:21 PM PDT by pepsionice
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To: pepsionice

However many issues she had, the cops are way too quick to handcuff people.


3 posted on 10/06/2007 12:19:44 PM PDT by dsc (There is no safety for honest men except by believing all possible evil of evil men. Edmund Burke)
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To: yorkie

What I couldn’t understand from the beginning is, if she was “that” unstable, why was she flying alone?


4 posted on 10/06/2007 12:22:15 PM PDT by FReepapalooza
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To: pepsionice

Very sad.

Not criticizing the husband, but, I think I would have accompanied my wife, being that she had those issues.

I Pray for her soul.


5 posted on 10/06/2007 12:23:56 PM PDT by papasmurf (I'm for Free, Fair, and Open trade. America needs to stand by it's true Friend. Israel.)
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To: yorkie

You NEVER, NEVER, NEVER let a person who is suicidal travel alone or even be alone. This guy is in the running for callous husband of the year and her mom is in the running for callous mother of the year.


6 posted on 10/06/2007 12:24:42 PM PDT by MIchaelTArchangel
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To: yorkie
Unless one has been there , it is hard to imagine the stress one undergoes when one perceives them self wrongly detained , cuffed and stuffed and chained and shackled ,especially when chained to a fixed object and left in a detention cell .
7 posted on 10/06/2007 12:29:43 PM PDT by kbennkc (For those who have fought for it , freedom has a flavor the protected will never know. F Troop)
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To: yorkie
Apparently, concerned husband-poo wasn't worried enough to accompany said alcoholic, suicidal nut case to the airport?

Say what?

8 posted on 10/06/2007 12:33:38 PM PDT by Publius6961 (MSM: Israelis are killed by rockets; Lebanese are killed by Israelis.)
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To: dsc
However many issues she had, the cops are way too quick to handcuff people.

Opinions are like ---- noses ----.
Everybody's got one.

I think not handcuffing some nut-cases has cost a few LEOs their lives.

Let's just list that under "differences of opinion."
Resist arrest and pay the consequences. The "reason" for it is irrelevant.

9 posted on 10/06/2007 12:36:11 PM PDT by Publius6961 (MSM: Israelis are killed by rockets; Lebanese are killed by Israelis.)
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To: pepsionice

What “prescription” drugs was she taking is a good question you ask.

Its time to revolt against the government/pharma drug pushers.
The anti-depression drugs are killers, and many more.

Our food chain is totally polluted with chemicals and drugs that have never been tested for long term health effects. But drug companies and chemical companies keep pushing and pushing the stuff even when it is no longer necessary!

In Europe you can get any number of dairy products, milk, canned goods etc that have been sterilized with new technology so good that even MILK does not need to be refrigerated and has long long shelf life, but it has NO CHEMICALS. it is completely natural.

it is getting incredibly difficult for my family to find products, bread, drinks, dairy etc that have not been polluted with unnatural chemicals, of all sorts etc.

Americans have become the fattest people on earth and it has nothing to do with availability of fast food, i believe, it has everything to do with artificial sweeteners, high fructose corn syrups, and other unnatrual additives in all of the food chain.

When I visited Europe this year i saw fewer overweight men and women in 3 weeks than I see in Walmart in 1 hour. And it is not because we are any more gluttonous. We just ingest crap, and we’re too ignorant to demand better. (as long as it is cheap, plentiful and tastes good going down)

Autoimmune illnesses, and chronic illnesses such as fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue which are ever increasing I have no doubt are directly or indirectly triggered or caused by food additives. (i have had cause to do extensive research in the area of autoimmune illnesses)

Its not a conspiracy per se. Its the exercise of power by the few over the many for billions of dollars, because they can.

They do not want to know the damage they cause. Since the illnesses may take years to develop they always argue there is no correlation with their chemicals. (though that is argument is growing thin, they are simply pointing fingers at their competitors) Any efforts to rigorously prove otherwise requires huge amounts of R&D time and money that will never be supplied by government or pharma.

So instead of playing it safe and refusing permission to use chemicals unless the long term effects have been proven acceptable, our overly powerful government requires only very short term testing.

If any food additive created illneses as severe as AIDS but took as long as it takes AIDS to become clinically significant then the government would approve that chemical for ingestion by millions and never ever repeal it since the big pharma will always argue something else was causing the torture and death. (no i’m not saying food additives have anything to do with AIDS, this is an illustration)

caveat emptor - do not blindly trust the government with your life.


10 posted on 10/06/2007 12:46:59 PM PDT by Mark Felton ("Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom...though it cost all you have get understanding" - Prov. 4)
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To: Publius6961
My experience and information is that officers , left to their own discretion , were too reluctant to handcuff people for the safety of all , thus the no exceptions policy .
11 posted on 10/06/2007 12:50:09 PM PDT by kbennkc (For those who have fought for it , freedom has a flavor the protected will never know. F Troop)
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To: kbennkc

I agree with you. its unlike anything imaginable. When i was a teenager i had a cell mate once (i was arrested at a scottish football match with dozens of others. i was innocent...ish), he went nuts. he started running at walls and smashing his head into them. there were only 3 of us in a cell and we werent ever restrained by hand cuffs etc...he just had to sit and wait, but he freaked.


12 posted on 10/06/2007 12:51:05 PM PDT by Mark Felton ("Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom...though it cost all you have get understanding" - Prov. 4)
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To: FReepapalooza

“””What I couldn’t understand from the beginning is, if she was “that” unstable, why was she flying alone?”””

Thank you for that intelligent observation.

Now we just have to wait for the lawsuits - blaming total strangers for a crisis that the family was unable or unwilling to handle.


13 posted on 10/06/2007 12:54:39 PM PDT by sodpoodle (Despair -Man's surrender. Laughter - God's redemption)
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To: yorkie
"...the police don’t really understand what they’re dealing with right now and no one has called me....” Mr. Gotbaum told an operator.

Mr. G called the airport too late, sadly his wife had already passed. Sadly, the police could not have known with what they were dealing. Unfortunate incident for everyone, but the police are not to blame.

14 posted on 10/06/2007 12:57:13 PM PDT by ricks_place
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To: Mark Felton
Relax, take a deep breath...

...and your Valium ;-)

FULL DISCLOSURE: I agree with you about many pharmaceuticals, about food additives, and high fructose corn syrup in particular.

Click here and here for vanities.

But by shooting it all out so excitedly like that, it makes people want to write you off as a loonie.

15 posted on 10/06/2007 12:59:26 PM PDT by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: dsc
"However many issues she had, the cops are way too quick to handcuff people."

Perhaps they should have called in one of their staff counselors, given her a hug and offered her an overstuffed chair and a cup of Earl Grey to settle her nerves.

Seems to me that these days folks are way too quick to act out and expect society to coddle them afterwards.

16 posted on 10/06/2007 1:01:06 PM PDT by JustaDumbBlonde
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To: sodpoodle

I didn’t think the husband had much of a case, when he didn’t accompany her on her flight to the re-hab facility. Then, when he didn’t call the airport until 70 minutes after she expired, he just may have completely lost any chance of winning a law-suit.

Besides - if he was going to pay $42,000/mo. for her to be in a specific re-hab - why didn’t he spend a couple grand extra to fly her there in a private plane?


17 posted on 10/06/2007 1:02:43 PM PDT by yorkie
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To: ricks_place

“Sadly, the police could not have known with what they were dealing. Unfortunate incident for everyone, but the police are not to blame.”

That’s right, they can’t know what they’re dealing with which is why you can’t chain a person up and then walk off and leave them unsupervised, even if it’s just for a couple of minutes.

She could have been diabetic and gone into a insulin coma or had a heart attack or stroke from all the screaming and yelling.

When you chain a person up and make it impossible for them to care for themself, it becomes your responsibility to care for them.

OTOH, it doesn’t take a trained police officer to sit and watch someone and since Phoenix is so happy to coddle illegal aliens, I suggest they go down to the nearest day labor center and hire a couple of illegals at $10/hr to watch the people that are chained up.


18 posted on 10/06/2007 1:08:02 PM PDT by RatSlayer
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To: yorkie
I would note that all of these observations are coming after the fact. Forget what you’ve learned about this poor soul and the terrible outcome of her experience. Put yourself in the place of those who were called on to handle the situation at the time it was unfolding. They knew none of this. They were confronted with a person who from all accounts, backed up by video, was completely out of control. They did what they deemed appropriate at the time. It’s hardly good sportsmanship to explain the rules of the game after the game is over and everyone knows the outcome.
19 posted on 10/06/2007 1:11:51 PM PDT by jwparkerjr (Sigh . . .)
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To: yorkie
I would note that all of these observations are coming after the fact. Forget what you’ve learned about this poor soul and the terrible outcome of her experience. Put yourself in the place of those who were called on to handle the situation at the time it was unfolding. They knew none of this. They were confronted with a person who from all accounts, backed up by video, was completely out of control. They did what they deemed appropriate at the time. It’s hardly good sportsmanship to explain the rules of the game after the game is over and everyone knows the outcome.
20 posted on 10/06/2007 1:12:04 PM PDT by jwparkerjr (Sigh . . .)
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