Body of Calif. Woman Found in Cold Storage 1 Year After Hospital Said She Checked Out: Lawsuit

Mar. 15, 2025

Jesse Marie Peterson.Photo:Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office

Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office

A family is suing a California hospital for negligence claiming they failed to inform them of their loved one’s death for close to a year.

Peterson had been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes since age 10 and was admitted to the hospital, where she had previously gone to seek diabetic treatment, on April 6, 2023 due to a diabetic episode, according to the court documents.

Two days later, the 31-year-old woman called her mother, Ginger Congi, and asked to be picked up from the hospital, per the complaint.

A photo of Jessie Marie Peterson from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office.Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office

Congi said she and her two other daughters filed a missing person’s report and searched for Peterson until she got a call from a Sacramento County Sheriff’s detective on April 12, 2024 confirming her daughter’s death. The family later found out that Peterson’s remains were transferred from Mercy San Juan Medical Center to one of the medical center’s off-site cold storage facilities after she died, per the court documents.

Building exterior of Mercy Medical Dignity Health.Chris Allan/Alamy

Chris Allan/Alamy

Peterson’s death certificate was issued on April 5, 2024, 361 days after she died, and her family’s complaint alleges that this should have been done within 15 hours of her death.

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The Peterson family’s lawsuit is seeking more than $5 million in damages and a jury trial from Mercy San Juan Medical Center, per the complaint.

source: people.com