Cockroaches crawling on dead woman in retirement center draws license review

SPEEDWAY, Ind. (WISH) — A retirement and assisted-living center, closed after reports of insects on a dead body, has gained the attention of the Indiana attorney general.

On Aug. 8, authorities took a complaint from Room 29 of Roland’s Retirement Club, 6038 W. 25th St., of bugs crawling all over and spilling out of the door.

On Sept. 22, an employee contacted police after finding Room 29’s resident, a 45-year-old woman who lived in the apartment, facedown in vomit and dead. Police said an employee found cockroaches crawling on a dead resident, but determined it was not not a criminal matter.

Roland’s Retirement Club closed Nov. 30.

Aaron Negangard, Indiana chief deputy attorney general, said Monday, “When you find a person who has been deceased and cockroaches are crawling out of the person’s mouth and nose, this is someone who obviously not been attended to properly.”

Negangard said the health facility’s administrator, Cynthia Jones, allowed the facility to use her license although she reportedly stepped down at the beginning of 2015.

“You can’t have individuals using someone else’s license because then there’s no accountability,” Negangard said.

In this case, Negangard said, not being held accountable led to the health, safety and welfare of residents being compromised.

A hearing is set for March 27. Negangard said Jones faces severe sanctions, including losing her license.

WISH-TV tried to contact Jones through a phone number obtained through online records. She has not returned our call.