Massachusetts VA hospital broke federal law in failed hunt for missing veteran found decomposing in stairwell

Bedford VA hospital in Massachusetts violated federal law by failing to properly search for a missing 62-year-old Army veteran whose decomposing body was found a month after his disappearance in a stairwell just 60 feet from his room.

The facility is located on the campus of VA’s Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital. The Caritas house manager had reported him missing on May 13, 2020, to the Bedford Police Department, and though his whereabouts were unknown for about a month, White never left Building 5 before his death. His crumpled body, which was so badly decomposed that a medical examiner couldn’t determine exactly how he died, was found with the same Boston Red Sox jersey, jeans and baseball cap he was last seen wearing days before his disappearance.  U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., who himself receives medical care at Bedford VA and had sought an investigation into White's death, said Thursday that the federal watchdog report shows the need for big improvements.