NORTH MIAMI, Fla. – Local 10 News has obtained the autopsy report for a 71-year-old man whose decomposing body was discovered last month inside a storage room at a nursing home in North Miami.
The report lists both the cause and manner of death as “undetermined.”
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According to the report, Elin Etienne’s body was found by a maintenance worker on the morning of Sept. 2 inside of a storage closet at the North Dade Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, located at 1255 NE 135th St.
Police said his family had filed a missing person’s report on Aug. 22 after the facility claimed that he had self-discharged on that date against medical advice.
The autopsy report notes that police did not observe any signs of trauma or foul play.
According to the report, relatives confirmed that Etienne, who was originally from Haiti, but moved to the U.S. at a young age, had suffered two cerebrovascular accidents in December 2023 and had been treated by the Jackson Health System. He also had a history of diabetes, mellitus, hypertension, dementia, vitamin D deficiency and chronic stage III kidney disease.
According to the report, he had also been treated at Memorial Regional Hospital for a brain aneurysm on Aug. 9, 2024.
The report states that Etienne’s family confirmed that he was heavy smoker, who stopped smoking in December 2023. They said he did not drink alcohol or use drugs.
Etienne’s family is now demanding answers after his death, saying the nursing home has failed to be transparent.
“People just don’t disappear from nursing homes,” South Florida attorney William Dean, who has settled lawsuits against the facility in the past, told Local 10 News last month. “They’re supposed to be watched, monitored and taken care of.”
Dean criticized the nursing home’s handling of the situation when speaking with Local 10′s Janine Stanwood.
“The nursing home should have immediately identified the issue, informed the family and called law enforcement,” he said. “Knowing this place as I do, I have no doubt they are not being forthcoming with the family.”
The North Dade nursing home released a statement to Local 10, saying they are cooperating with law enforcement.
It’s unclear how long Etienne had been dead for before his body was discovered.