Workers from Angelica Corporation, a laundry facility in Henderson in Nevada, were shocked when they found two stillborn babies with the used hospital linens. The discovery led the workers to call the police and file a report.
Kathleen Richards from the Henderson Police Department said that the remains were mistakenly delivered by Spring Valley Hospital Medical Center in Las Vegas. While foul play is out of the question, officers are investigating how the dead babies were mixed in with the laundry.
Gretchen Papez, spokeswoman of Spring Valley Hospital and director of PR & Media Relations for The Valley Health System, recalled what happened.
"After suffering a miscarriage at another location, the patient arrived via EMS with twins -- early gestational, deceased fetuses," said Papez. "The fetuses had already been wrapped in linen prior to arrival at the hospital. We are currently reviewing the situation to determine what occurred."
Papez added that the remains are kept under the possession of the hospital and that hospital workers have been coordinating with the family involved.
Angelica Corporation provides hospitals and other medical facilities with linen services. It has more than 25 medical laundry plants across the U.S. and serves over 4,200 facilities.
It was learned that the fetuses were 16 weeks old when they were found at the laundry facility. Richards had initially called them "stillborn." However, they were later described as a miscarriage because a 16-week old fetus already measures 4.5 inches long and has a complete set of eyes and ears.
Other details such as the babies' time of birth and gender have not been disclosed. Richards added that a police report has not yet been released since the investigation is still being carried out. Officials are trying to find out how the mistake occurred.
Angelica Corporation has refused to comment on the situation.
Spring Valley Hospital Medical Center started their operations in southwest Las Vegas back in 2003. Owned by a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania-based Universal Health Services Inc, the hospital currently houses 237 beds.
