September 1st 03, 03:02 PM
Officials ask family why they kept body
DYFS says foster parents had 'clean record'
Monday, September 01, 2003
BY JUDITH LUCAS
Star-Ledger Staff
State and Union County authorities have launched separate investigations
into why the foster parents of three children failed to report the death of
an 82-year-old relative, whose decomposing body remained in their Clark
home for nearly a month. The death of Nicola Lombardi was reported
Thursday, but the elderly man, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease, had
died weeks earlier from heart disease, an autopsy found, Union County
Prosecutor Theodore Romankow said. Authorities are continuing to question
Lombardi's daughter, Donna Keaveney, and her husband, Kenneth, of Willow
Way. Lombardi lived in an upstairs apartment in the couple's home. The
three children -- unrelated girls aged 4, 6 and 13 -- have been separated
and moved to other foster homes, Joseph Delmar, a spokesman for the
Division of Youth and Family Services, said yesterday. Keaveney has said
she and her husband were unaware of the death because the 13-year-old was
in charge of Lombardi's care. That alone has DYFS concerned, Delmar said,
because no child should have such responsibility. The state agency will
examine what psychological effects, if any, Lombardi's death had on the
children and whether the Keaveneys are fit to continue as foster parents.
The couple had been approved foster parents since 1998 and a DYFS worker
visited their Willow Way home in July and found no problems, Delmar said.
The children were happy, Delmar said, and the couple had a "clean record"
with the agency. But, he said, "these are unusual circumstances."
"We are going to try to get some answers," Delmar said. "We are going to
find out why a 13-year-old was used as a primary caretaker. She should not
have been doing that." The children were examined and there were no signs
of physical abuse, Delmar said. Meanwhile, Romankow said he has his own set
of questions for the Keaveneys and the children. "There was major
decomposition; there was a horrible smell," Romankow said. "They should
have known Grandpa was dead. We want to find out why they took so long to
report it."
Copyright 2003 NJ.com. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-4/106239183525363
0.xml
DYFS says foster parents had 'clean record'
Monday, September 01, 2003
BY JUDITH LUCAS
Star-Ledger Staff
State and Union County authorities have launched separate investigations
into why the foster parents of three children failed to report the death of
an 82-year-old relative, whose decomposing body remained in their Clark
home for nearly a month. The death of Nicola Lombardi was reported
Thursday, but the elderly man, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease, had
died weeks earlier from heart disease, an autopsy found, Union County
Prosecutor Theodore Romankow said. Authorities are continuing to question
Lombardi's daughter, Donna Keaveney, and her husband, Kenneth, of Willow
Way. Lombardi lived in an upstairs apartment in the couple's home. The
three children -- unrelated girls aged 4, 6 and 13 -- have been separated
and moved to other foster homes, Joseph Delmar, a spokesman for the
Division of Youth and Family Services, said yesterday. Keaveney has said
she and her husband were unaware of the death because the 13-year-old was
in charge of Lombardi's care. That alone has DYFS concerned, Delmar said,
because no child should have such responsibility. The state agency will
examine what psychological effects, if any, Lombardi's death had on the
children and whether the Keaveneys are fit to continue as foster parents.
The couple had been approved foster parents since 1998 and a DYFS worker
visited their Willow Way home in July and found no problems, Delmar said.
The children were happy, Delmar said, and the couple had a "clean record"
with the agency. But, he said, "these are unusual circumstances."
"We are going to try to get some answers," Delmar said. "We are going to
find out why a 13-year-old was used as a primary caretaker. She should not
have been doing that." The children were examined and there were no signs
of physical abuse, Delmar said. Meanwhile, Romankow said he has his own set
of questions for the Keaveneys and the children. "There was major
decomposition; there was a horrible smell," Romankow said. "They should
have known Grandpa was dead. We want to find out why they took so long to
report it."
Copyright 2003 NJ.com. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-4/106239183525363
0.xml