
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 26, 1992                   TAG: 9203260280
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

DECOMPOSED BODIES FOUND ON VA GROUNDS

Two decomposed bodies were found Wednesday on the grounds of the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salem.

Pat Clark, public information officer, said the bodies have not been identified. It is presumed that both were VA patients, a Salem police officer said.

Around 2 p.m., a decomposed body was discovered by a patient, Clark said. The patient reported the discovery to Salem police. Police then notified the medical examiner's office, which transported the body for an autopsy, Clark said.

Less than three hours after the first body was discovered, a man's body was found hanging from a tree, Clark said.

"It is an apparent suicide," she said. "We have no identity - just that the body was discovered."

Salem police said they would release a report today.

James Farsetta, who is heading a review team investigating the Salem VA center this week on concerns raised by a government employees' union, said Wednesday that the incident is not expected to hamper the investigation.

"I don't want to say it won't have an impact," said Farsetta, director of the VA medical center in Brooklyn, N.Y. "But it won't have an impact on the way we plan on proceeding."

Keywords:
FATALITY

by CNB