Negotiations with “missing baby” parents ongoing
Bishop John Cline, who was asked to give an update on the matter, revealed “it is still under negotiations with the parents...so that’s where it’s at right now.”
It was through Bishop Cline, who was not the Chairman of BVIHSA at the time, that Virgin Islands News Online was informed the body of the infant went missing after the mother gave birth on October 9, 2011, but only to learn that the female baby died two hours later as a result of complications. However, when a Pathologist arrived in the Territory on Wednesday, October 12, 2011 to conduct a post mortem, the body of the infant could not be found at the morgue.
After several days of searching, the couple was informed on Sunday, October 16 by hospital officials that the baby might have been cremated by accident. It is alleged that when the parents asked for the ashes they were informed that the hospital did not have it because it may have been thrown away.
At a press conference today, June 14, Bishop Cline was asked if he was involved in the negotiations since many are of the view that it is a conflict of interest because of his intimate knowledge of the issue.
In response, the Chairman stated, “When the people came to me it was in a pastoral capacity...there is no conflict and that’s where my involvement with them ended. I was not advising them in terms of what they should do, how they should move forward, I was simply providing pastoral counsel for them at the time of their loss...I am not involved in the negotiations, it’s with the BVI Health Services lawyers and the parents lawyers.”
8 Responses to “Negotiations with “missing baby” parents ongoing”