Crime Scene Leftovers Pose Problem For Sanitation

Call it the Case of the Bloody Mattress.

City sanitation workers in southwestern Kentucky were recently left with the problem of how to dispose of a bloody mattress put out with the trash.

The mattress came from a home where police say a 37-year-old man appears to have died from self-inflicted stab wounds. The problem came when trash collectors realized they couldn't pick up a potential biohazard, but didn't want to leave it by the side of the road in a residential neighborhood in Hopkinsville.

"This was an area of concern for us because blood is considered a biohazard and not only can our trash trucks not pick it up, but it could be dangerous for people in the community," said George Hampton, a route supervisor for Hopkinsville Solid Waste Authority.

The Kentucky New Era reports that the mattress disappeared by midweek, but sanitation officials didn't take it and were still trying to make sure it was properly disposed of. The location of the mattress remained a mystery at week's end.

Hopkinsville sanitation workers received an anonymous call reporting a mattress, possibly covered in blood, that had been set on a curb outside of a home. That was the concern of the anonymous caller, Hampton said, who said children in the neighborhood could start to play on the mattress and come into contact with the dried blood that might have diseases.

Because there was blood on the mattress, sanitation workers couldn't haul it off with the rest of the trash.

"It raises a question for us about where we take it from here," Hampton said. "Someone has to clean up messes like these and we can't do it."

Solid Waste Superintendent Bill Bailey said sanitation workers aren't allowed to pick up possible biohazards, including blood, from the side of the road. Instead, Bailey said, the department needs to call other landfills to see who will pick up and take the items.

"Sometimes we can process and wrap it in plastic and dispose of it that way. But other times we have to contact a company that deals with disposing of medical waste."

Charlotte Write, a spokeswoman for Stericycle, a national company that specializes in medical waste disposal, said medical waste is generally burned to kill pathogens that can live in dried blood.

"It is important to dispose of all medical waste, especially waste that comes from the body, so as not to spread diseases," Write said.

Hopkinsville Police Chief Guy Howie said the families must clean up the scene of a murder or suicide or pay to have it done.

"It doesn't sound very friendly, I know, but that's just how it has to be handled," Howie said. "Someone has to clean it up and someone has to dispose of all of this, it's just a matter of figuring out who. It's amazing that just one mattress on a curb can raise so many questions."

Someone solved sanitation's problem by taking the mattress from in front of the home. Bailey said sanitation workers didn't remove it, but finding out what became of the mattress is important. It had to be properly sterilized and disposed of.

"We can't just stick it in our landfill and be done with it," Bailey said. "Whether it's on that curb or not, it's still hazardous material."

Grenade startles home cleanup crew

AURORA,Il

How did a grenade end up in an otherwise unspectacular home in a quiet neighborhood on the far West Side of Aurora?

Neighbors and police were still trying to figure that out Monday evening after a hand grenade was discovered in the home of woman who died in May.

Family members stumbled across the grenade in a satchel while cleaning out the one-story home in the 200 block of Central Avenue.

The relatives took the grenade to the back yard, then called Aurora police. The Aurora cops then called in the Kane County bomb squad, who arrived around 1 p.m.

The commotion caused quite a stir in the neighborhood. Three cop cars. Police tape around the back yard.

Kane County Sgt. Willie Mayes said the bomb squad made the grenade safe so it could be transferred and removed it. Monday evening, officers did not yet know if it was a live grenade.

But with everyone safe, the more intriguing question becomes: Where did it come from?

When cleaning out a loved one's house, you expect to find many things -- family photos, old letters and plenty of mementos. Explosives are a bit more uncommon.

Neighbors said the woman had lived in the house for about 20 years. She was quiet but friendly, and was often seen walking down the street to the store.

She was 81 when she died. Her husband had died many years before, neighbors said.

Was he in the service? Was this a souvenir he brought back, as some veterans did?

Or did she bring it home herself? Neighbors said she was a bit of a collector, but a grenade is a hard thing to pick up at a flea market.

Her house is overgrown with bushes and trees. A dumpster on the driveway and red tape labeled "BIOHAZARD" is stretched across the door.

Monday night, a random collection of knickknacks was lying near the curb, free to anyone who cared to wander up.

The trash/treasures included glass jars, vases, a 1995 Smashing Pumpkins CD, 19 Ray Coniff (and his orchestra and choir) vinyl records, women's leather boots (size 6), a mug with a 1997 calendar on it and a brass bottle opener shaped like a Coke can.

But no clues as to the origins of the grenade.