Woman who checked into hospital and vanished was actually in the morgue, family learns

A California woman who was the subject of a year-long search by her family was dead and decomposing in a Northern California hospital's warehouse morgue the entire time because the hospital never notified the family of her death, according to a new lawsuit.

Jessie Marie Peterson, 31, died at Mercy San Juan Medical Center in Carmichael, California, on April 8, 2023, from cardiopulmonary arrest, something her family, including her mother, Ginger Congi, never learned of until April 12, 2024, according to a civil complaint obtained by USA TODAY.

“I had bad thoughts that she might be lying some place, decomposing, and nobody knew where she was and that we might never see her again,” Congi told USA TODAY. “Turns out she was lying decomposing some place, but somebody knew where she was, and they didn't tell us.”

The complaint filed on Aug. 7 in Sacramento Superior Court alleges that Mercy San Juan Medical Center, whose parent company is Dignity Health, indicated that Peterson discharged herself on April 8, 2023, against medical advice. In truth, "Jessie had died while in the care of Mercy San Juan," according to the complaint.

She was admitted to the hospital after suffering a diabetic episode on April 6, 2023, the document says.

Peterson's death certificate was not completed until nearly a year after her death, the complaint says. Since Peterson's family did not know she died, they "tirelessly tried to locate (her)," including filing a Missing Person’s report with the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, the court document continued.

The lawsuit also alleges that this is not the first time Mercy San Juan has “mishandled a decedent.” Since the news of Peterson’s case has spread, the family's attorney, Marc Greenberg, told USA TODAY that other people have called him to say their loved ones faced similar fates at Dignity Health hospitals.

"We extend our deepest sympathies to the family during this difficult time. We are unable to comment on pending litigation," a spokesperson for Dignity Health told USA TODAY.

Jessie Marie Peterson's body found 'decomposed'

The Sacramento County Detective’s Office notified Congi and others on April 12 that they found Peterson deceased at Mercy San Juan Hospital, according to the complaint. Her body was being stored in the medical center's off-site warehouse morgue.

"At this point, Jessie’s body was so decomposed that an open casket funeral was not feasible, and Jessie’s fingerprints were not even obtainable for any keepsake," the complaint continued. "Mercy San Juan hospital advertises that 'at our care facilities, we take pride in treating all people with dignity and respect.' In this case, there was no dignity and no respect."

On the day of Peterson's death, she called Congi and asked her mother to pick her up because she was going to leave the hospital, the complaint says. This would be the final time Congi ever heard her daughter speak because Peterson was pronounced dead by the medical center at 4:27 p.m., two hours after that phone call.

"It's pretty heartbreaking that we now know she was just transferred to a storage facility less than 24 hours after she died and placed in a freezer on a shelf some place and forgotten," Congi said. "It makes me angry that they just discarded her like she was a piece of furniture."

Who was Jessie Marie Peterson?

Peterson, who grew up in Sacramento along with her sisters Angie and Chandra, is described in the complaint as a "very loving and energetic person." She was diagnosed with Type I diabetes at the age of 10, which "affected her energy and participation in gymnastics when she was younger."

“She loved us all she was the kind of kid that would give you the last Jelly Belly out of her pocket, even though it was full of fuzz," Congi said, per WXIA-TV.

Peterson was a member of Roseville High School's water polo and dance teams before she graduated and went on to attend Sierra College in Rocklin, California, the complaint says. She then became a prosecuting attorney for the Placer County Peer Court.

Peterson had been admitted to Mercy San Juan Hospital before her death, including on Jan. 10, 2023, when she suffered a separate diabetic episode. She also underwent surgery at the medical center on Jan. 14, 2023, to treat an infection in her right foot, according to the complaint.

"While a patient that doesn’t survive may be just another lifeless body to Mercy San Juan hospital, Jessie was a family member, daughter, and sister, all of whom deserved the dignity and respect Mercy San Juan grossly failed to provide. Even to this day, the hospital has not apologized to Jessie’s family members," the complaint says.

Peterson's family is seeking $5 million in damages and "five times the jury’s award of actual damages" to "punish" the medical center for "their outrageous and inexcusable negligence and complete disregard for the dignity of Jessie," according to the complaint.