Body of 79-year-old woman donated to science was found on the side of Texas road after slipping out of a van on its way to the research center

  • The mortuary van carrying the body of Nell Joseph, 79, was headed to a Science Care facility in Colorado on Tuesday when a rear window broke
  • Joseph's body slid out on to the highway without the driver noticing
  • An officer found the black body bag with Joseph's remains packed in medical-grade ice at about 1am during a routine patrol
  • The driver told authorities he didn't realize the body had crashed through the back window of the van
  • Joseph's family is waiting for an apology from the transport company

By KELLY MCLAUGHLIN FOR DAILYMAIL.COM and REUTERS

Published: | Updated:

An elderly woman's body donated to a medical research lab was discovered on the side of a north Texas road after falling through the back window of a transport van, police said on Friday.

The mortuary van carrying the body of Nell Joseph, 79, was headed to a Science Care facility in Colorado on Tuesday when a rear window broke and the cadaver slid out on to the highway without the driver noticing, said police in Denton, north of Dallas.

An officer found the black body bag with Joseph's remains packed in medical-grade ice at about 1am during a routine patrol. 

The driver told authorities he didn't realize the body had crashed through the back window of the van. 

The mortuary van carrying the body of Nell Joseph, 79, was headed to a Science Care facility in Colorado on US-380 (pictured) on Tuesday when a rear window broke and Joseph's body slid out on to the highway

The mortuary van carrying the body of Nell Joseph, 79, was headed to a Science Care facility in Colorado on US-380 (pictured) on Tuesday when a rear window broke and Joseph's body slid out on to the highway

The van's cargo and passenger areas are separated by a metal barrier, which could have prevented the driver from noticing that the cadaver fell out, police said in a statement.

Joseph died from a lung disease in a Fort Worth hospital on Thanksgiving Day. Her remains were donated for the study of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, her family told local broadcaster WFAA-TV.

Melinda Ellsworth, a spokeswoman for Science Care, said the van was carrying multiple donors but only Joseph's body fell off the vehicle, but added that there appears to have been a mechanical failure with the vehicle. 

The company has suspended services with the transportation provider. 

'The family still wants to go forward with the donation,' she said.  

Joseph's children, Belinda McLane and Terry Harris, are shocked, however, that this could happen tiotheir mother's body. 

Joseph's children, Belinda McLane (pictured) and Terry Harris, have said that it's 'unbelievable' that this could happen to their mother
Terry Harris (pictured) said he 'couldn't believe' the company lost his mom

Joseph's children, Belinda McLane (left) and Terry Harris (right), have said that it's 'unbelievable' that this could happen to their mother. They said they're still waiting for an apology from the transportation center

'I was like, 'what is going on here?' Joseph's son, Terry Harris told WFAA. 'I couldn't believe they lost my mom out the back of a truck. And apparently they didn't know.' 

Authorities said that no criminal activity connected to the incident, and the case has been closed. Officers called it 'just a tragic accident'. 

'There was no crime committed,' Officer Ryan Grelle, of the Denton Police Department, told The Denver Post. 'We're just trying to figure out how it ended up there. We're trying to figure out how it ended up on the side of the road.' 

Joseph worked at Montgomery Ward in Fort Worth for several decades. Harris and McLane cared for her for the last two years of her life. 

They said they're still waiting for an apology from the transport company. 

 'Unbelievable,' McLane said, tearing up. 'Unbelievable. Unbelievable.'

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