from http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=849
This was suggested by one of Katlyn's relatives:
On May 2, 2005, Marlene Braun, the manager of the Carrizo Plains National Monument in California killed herself, leaving a suicide note citing abuse, humiliation and unprofessional conduct by her chain-of-command. The Inspector General "Report of Investigation", dated April 19, 2006, found that "BLM did not take action to resolve longstanding differences...or to diffuse inter-office conflict, despite the availability of alternative dispute resolution methods." As a result, the report concludes "a breakdown in trust, communication and cooperation...adversely affected management of the Carrizo Plains..."
The report, extracted by PEER nine months after its first Freedom of Information Act request to the Inspector General's office, leaves lingering questions:
- Why did the Bakersfield Field Office manager not make a 911 call when he was unable to contact Braun after receiving her email?
- Who delayed "emergency medical personnel" from immediately responding to Braun's house, requesting that they await "the arrival of law enforcement" because "Braun was known to possess firearms"? Braun was alive as emergency responders arrived but died an hour later;
- Why did the BLM officials first dispatched to check on Braun seize her computer and other materials from Braun's house and then "failed to properly inventory the removed property or document their actions as required by BLM policy"?; and
- What, if any, changes will Interior consider adopting to prevent future such tragedies?
I have to point out that these bolded items aren't normal for a suicide. Generally, one wants to *ensure* the survival of the patient, not wait for them to die, and ransacking their belongings has a process called 'probate' that is normally at least polite to participate in (not like the dead person is going to take off with any of their stuff, yano?).
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