A Bronx hospital worker was found dead inside a bathroom days after he went to the emergency room to get treated for an injured finger, his family says.
Anthony Iuso's family was angry as they wondered Monday how their brother, son and father could get locked inside a bathroom at Montefiore Medical Center, where he worked, for days without anyone noticing.
Thomas Iuos said his 44-year-old brother cleaned the operations room on the third floor of the hospital, and on Thursday, Anthony Iuos left work to get an injured finger treated in the emergency room at about 1 p.m.
After triage nurses saw Anthony Iuos, he went back to the third floor to use a bathroom, and that's the last time anyone saw him, according to his brother.
Anthony Iuos' family made multiple attempts to call and contact him the whole night and the next day, including reaching out to the hospital. They finally went to the hospital Monday morning demanding to look at surveillance video, and that's when hospital staffers found Anthony Iuso in the bathroom.
"Apparently they made no attempt to get a hold of him, get a hold of their patient that checked into the ER or get a hold of their worker that left work early," said Thomas. "They never chose to check this particular bathroom until today, when we finally started making a lot of commotion."
Thomas Iuso said the hospital has been giving the family "very suspicious, very odd" information.
"It doesn't make any sense why professionals would be asking this way," he said.
It's not clear what happened inside the bathroom once Anthony got locked inside, and it's not clear when he died. His family said he had no medical or mental health issues.
Thomas said hospital staffers told him some of them smelled an odor on the third floor, and at one point, someone realized the bathroom door was locked -- but didn't try hard to unlock it, and left.
"It's insane," said Thomas Iuso.
Hospital officials only said the investigation into the incident is ongoing with NYPD, and said in a statement to NBC 4 New York Monday, "The staff at Montefiore are extremely saddened to learn that one of our employees has passed away. Our hearts go out to the family, friends and co-workers."
The family plans to contact an attorney very soon, said Thomas Iuso. Funeral plans weren't immediately clear.