Oct 13, 2009 10:33 pm US/Central
Death Certificate Delay Angers Family Of Victim
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Amy Howat's mother Pamela was stabbed to death by an ex-boyfriend in June 2009. Amy says she has been forced to pay her dead mother's mortgage and other expenses because she still has not received her death certificate.
CBS
It's a simple legal document: a death certificate. But without it, those left behind can be put in a miserable situation. And it's happening to a suburban family who lost a loved one to murder this summer. CBS 2's Pamela Jones started looking into the case.
With no death certificate, one family says they can't get access to the victim's life insurance benefits to pay her bills.
They've been paying her mortgage and other expenses until they can settle the estate.
"It's a depressing situation to be in," said victim's daughter Amy Howat.
She says her mom, 51-year-old Pamela Howat, was stalked by an ex-boyfriend and found stabbed to death at her home in Hanover Park.
And although police arrested a suspect, Howat's family still suffers from the loss and much more.
"We haven't been able to pay the bills that have been accruing up since she has passed," Amy said.
"It's horrible. We've got the phone blowing up from everybody," said Steve Thomas.
Thomas, Amy's fiancé and Pamela's son-in-law to be, says the reason is that they haven't been able to get a death certificate from the DuPage County Coroner's Office.
"I've been very angry," Thomas said.
Angry because the crime happened back in June. July went by, then August, September and now October - and still no death certificate.
Thomas says he didn't get a call back until he contacted CBS 2.
He says a coroner's office employee told him the doctor in charge of the document abruptly moved and left his job, allegedly leaving other families hanging.
"I want to know how somebody can get up and leave a practice like this with 30 families sitting there scratching their heads wondering when they're going to get a death certificate," Thomas said.
On Tuesday, the deputy coroner wouldn't confirm many details. He says any waiting cases "have now been taken care of", and that any delayed cases "were waiting for information from a different pathologist" than the office uses now.
The Howats say the coroner's office finally called them Tuesday promising they can pick up a copy of the death certificate they've been waiting for.
They keep Pamela Howat's cremated remains close to remember her. And they've created a pond with her pet fish as a memorial, hoping to settle her final expenses soon.
"We need the death certificate," Thomas said. "That's what we need."
The family expects to pick up the copy they were promised on Wednesday. But they say they still have a lot of questions about how this was handled.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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