Street roots., January 09, 2009, Page 9, Image 9

Street roots
9
Jan. 9 , 2 0 0 9
DEATH, fro m page 9
In m any w ays, C h a p p elle 's jo b is a lo t
lik e a d e te c tiv e 's, w ith scien ce, logic, and
so m e tim e s only s c a n t ev id en ce on th e ir
sid e . D e te rm in in g th e c a u s e an d m a n n e r
o f d e a th is fairly easy. N o identification
w a s found o n G rig o rieff o r aro u n d w h e re
h e d ied . Additionally, h is fin g e rp rin ts did
n o t m a tc h any re c o rd s. T h e s e situ atio n s
c o n s titu te th e m o st difficult c a s e s h e and
h is co lleag u es ta k e o n . B u t th e y do n o t
give u p , ta k in g v a rio u s r o u te s, including
co n su ltin g p o lice re c o rd s, tak in g DNA,
blood, hair, d e n ta l an d tiss u e sa m p le s, and
finding reliab le p e o p le to ta lk to.
S o m e tim e s w h en th e M edical E x am in e r
r u n s in to ro a d blocks, a s h o r t b lu rb asking
th e public fo r h elp w ill b e s e n t o u t to
n e w s p a p e rs w ith a s m u ch physical detail
a b o u t th e p e rs o n as
possible.
Other winter deaths
S u ch a w rite ­
u p w as p u b lish ed
a b o u t G rig o rieff in T h e
A t least five people, including
O reg o n ian an d T h e
Grigorieff, died because o f the winter
P o rtlan d T rib u n e th e
weather in the Pacific Northwest in
w e e k o f C h ristm as.
late December. The other four are:
D oing th a t,
■ Charles Sinclair Grant, 46, died of
C h a p p elle says, is a
la s t r e s o rt.
hypothermia on December 24 in
“If y o u r family
Beaverton, Ore.
m e m b e r w as decea sed ,
■ Thomas Egan, 60, died of
th e la s t w ay th a t you
hypothermia in Eugene, Ore. on Dec.
w ould w a n t to find o u t
16.
a b o u t i t is looking in
[th e paper],"
■ A woman known as Tracey burned
C happelle says. “W hen
to death on Dec. 19 trying to stay
w e m ak e a d e a th
warm underneath her overturned
notification, w e try to
shopping cart in Vancouver, B.C.
m ak e i t in p e rso n .”
■ Harold Ensminger, 55, died either
In th e c a s e o f a
h o m e le s s p erso n ,
of foul play or hypothermia in Bend,
C h a p p elle says, talking
Ore. on Dec. 16.
to fellow h o m e le ss
e stra n g e d from th e ir now-dead family
m em b er. C happelle says a v e ry sm all
n u m b e r o f fam ilies e stra n g e d from a
d e c e a se d relative, a b o u t 2 5 p e rc e n t, will
take th e body and m ake th e ir own funeral
a rra n g e m e n ts.
T h a t leav es th e v a s t m ajority — 75
p e rc e n t - w ho leave it up to a random
funeral h o m e c o n ta c te d by th e M edical
E x am in e r's office to pick u p th e body,
c re m a te it, a n d d isp o se o f th e crem ain s.
W ith n o th in g le ft b u t a body, i t se e m s
odd to le t th e lack o f com m unication,
em o tio n s, and te n s io n s o f e s tra n g e m e n t
c o n tin u e e v e n in d eath .
“I f you dislike so m e o n e , y o u r dislike for
th e m d o e s n 't e n d w ith th e ir d e a th ,”
C happelle says.
O reg o n s ta te law stip u la te s t h a t a
“re sp o n sib le friend” c a n claim th e body
w h en fam ily d o e s n o t C happelle sa y s th a t
h a p p e n s infrequently.
T h e M edical E x a m in e r sp e n d s five days
a tte m p tin g to c o n ta c t th e family. A fter
th a t, C happelle says, “w e ju s t c a n 't take
any m o re tim e,” an d th e body is ta k e n to a
fu n era l h o m e for crem atio n .
O nce th e body is tak en to th e funeral
h o m e, th e body is n o lo n g e r in th e custody
o f th e M edical E xam iner. I t is c rem ated ,
and th e funeral h o m e k e e p s th e crem ain s
for u p to te n y e a rs in case th e family
d ecid es to re trie v e th em .
G rig o rieff did n o t m e e t th a t fate. E ven
a f te r 10 y e a rs o f e s tra n g e m e n t, Jim
G rig o rieff sa y s th a t w h en h is fam ily m e t to
d ecid e w h a t to do w ith G eo rg e, n o n e of
th e m th o u g h t to leave h is body u p to
so m e o n e else.
“H e w as family,” J im G rig o rieff says.
“A lbeit h e c h o s e a p a th th a t n o n e o f u s
w ould have c h o sen .”
Cell p h o n e s h e lp e d B a rry an d C harles
"Chip" G ra n t sta y in touch, even th o u g h
b o th were homeless. Chip’s last message
campers may only
yield the person's
street name. But in attempting to identify
Grigorieff, talking to other homeless
from his brother still haunts Barry. It was
left on his phone just days before Chip was
found dead of exposure in Beaverton. He
still has it recorded.
p eo p le d id th e trick.
“M o s t o f t h e tim e w e h a v e p re tty good
luck, especially w ith tra n sie n ts ,” C happelle
say s. “G enerally, m o s t o f th e s e p e o p le a t
o n e tim e o r a n o th e r have b e e n a rre s te d
[and hav e h a d fin g e rp rin ts taken].”
B eg in n in g to e x h a u s t th e ir options,
in v estig ato rs to o k a p ic tu re of G rig o rieff s
b o d y an d show ed i t aro u n d a n u m b e r of
h o m e le s s cam p s. S o m e o n e reco g n ized him
"H e sa id h e w as h u rtin g an d h e w as o u t
in th e snow ," sa y s G ra n t, sp e ak in g of
C h a rle s "Chip" S inclair G ra n t, w h o se body
w as found D ec. 2 3 . "H e basically said
an d gave th e investigating ex am in er
G rig o rie ff s n a m e an d d a te o f b irth . O n
D e c e m b e r 27, a definitive identification
w as m a d e.
.
. u
»
“Luckily, h is body w a s in g o o d sh a p e,
C h a p p elle says.
C o n ta c tin g G rigorieff s fam ily a fte r
identifying him , Chappelle says, w a s easy.
M any tim es, w h e n C h a p p elle n o tifies th e
n e x t o f k in a b o u t th e d e a th , h e
in ad v erten tly s te p s in to th e em otional
w orld of th e family, w ho a re o ften
goodbye."
T h e tw o didn’t cam p to g eth er, b u t th ey
stayed in to u ch to c h eck in o n e a c h o th e r s
situ atio n . C hip h a d ju s t b e e n re le a se d ,
fro m jail e a rlie r th a t m o n th , b u t co u ld n t
fin d sh e lte r, G ra n t said. "So h e p u t a bo ard
a g a i n s t th e sid e o f a building. T h a t s w h e re
th e y found him . I t to o k th e m se v era l days
to find him ," G ra n t says.
"H e w as lonely, v e ry lonely, an d felt th a t
t h e situ atio n w as a lm o st h o p eless," says
G ran t, w h o su rv iv ed t h e e le m e n ts him self
b e c a u s e h e found sh e lte r. F o r h is funeral,
th e fam ily o p e n e d u p th e d o o rs to all of
C hip’s frien d s o n th e s tr e e ts . (S e e h is
obituary, page 3)
A s a v e te ra n , G rigorieff w as e n title d to
a v e te ra n ’s b u rial, an d t h a t is th e p a th th e
Meeting
you
where
family took. O n Tuesday, Ja n u a ry 6,
G rig o rieff w as b u ried w ith m ilita ry h o n o rs
in W illam ette N ational C em etery .
“W e th o u g h t it w ould b e so m e th in g th a t
h e w an ted ,” Jim G rig o rieff says. “H e w as
p roud o f [his se rv ice].”
A t a la te r d a te , G rig o rieff th in k s th e
fam ily will g a th e r priv ately to rem in isce
a b o u t G eorge. T h e y m ay talk ab o u t
G eo rg e’s football g am es, o r th e fishing
ad v e n tu re s h e m u st h av e h a d in th e w oods
w e st o f th e 1-5 co rrid o r. A nd th e n th e r e
a re th e “w acky an d w eird e x p e rie n c e s,”
too, th a t th e fam ily h e a rd a little ab o u t
th ro u g h o u t th e y e a rs an d a t t h e funeral.
“T h e re ’s a lo t o f th o se ,” G rig o rieff says,
alm o st laughing.
nnnn
D ep u ty M edical E x a m in e r Tom
C happelle says identifying so m e o n e a s
h o m e le ss d e p e n d s alm o st exclusively on
th e p e rs o n 's physical a p p e aran ce, an d th e
e n v iro n m en t w h e re th e b ody w as found.
“If you have a d e c e d e n t th a t looks
u n b ath ed , looks like h e 's w earin g th r e e o r
four layers of clo th es, sle ep in g o n a
card b o ard box, th a t's kind o f a goo d sig n ,”
h e says.
T h at, says G en n y N elso n , th e fo u n d er of
th e non-profit S iste rs o f th e Road, is
“m aking assu m p tio n s b a se d o n
ste re o ty p e s.”
A ssu m p tio n s w e n t terrib ly w rong w h en
R.J. A nheier, a fo rm erly h o m e le ss m an an d
S tre e t R o o ts v e n d o r w ho h a d b e e n living
in th e B iltm ore H otel, co llap sed a t th e
in te rse c tio n o f N o rth w e st B u rn sid e S tre e t
a n d N o rth w e st 6 th
A venue an d d ied of
"I can't invest any of my
a h e a r t a tta c k on
Ja n . 4 , 2 008.
emotion in these cases,
The Medical
E x am in e r's office
could n o t identify
him , so th e y gave
h is body to O H S U 's
Body D onation
b e c a u s e a f t e r a w h ile i t
w o u ld b r e a k ( m y ) h e a r t .
---- T O M
C H A P 1L L «
D E P U T Y M E D IC A L E X A M IN E R
Program, which uses cadavers for
dissection in anatomy classes.
In M arch , N elso n say s, s h e an d tw o o f
A n h e ie r's frie n d s found o u t a b o u t th e
d o n atio n . T h e y k n ew th a t A n h e ie r h ad
identification. If th e M edical E x a m in e r had
g o n e to th e Biltm ore, N elso n says, th ey
w ould have disco v ered th a t N elso n w as
liste d o n A n h eier's re n ta l applicatio n a s an
em e rg e n c y co n tact.
“T h e y d id n 't d o th e ir jo b ,” N elso n says.
B e cau se A n h eier's frien d s in terv en ed ,
A n h eier's s is te r w as c o n ta c te d . S h e
re trie v e d A n h eier's body. B e cau se o f th e
u p ro a r th e M edical E x am in e r's m istak e
cau sed , O H S U is n o lo n g er accepting
in d ig en t b o d ie s fo r donation.
“I t's n o t really a s e tb ack ,” say s Steve
C arm ichael, m an ag er o f O H S U 's body
d o n atio n p ro g ram . “W e d id n 't g e t th a t
many."
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