OMI apologizes for failed notice

Family has sought info on missing man

The state Office of the Medical Investigator issued an apology on Friday that said “the OMI system failed” and they didn’t tell a deceased man’s family about the death in a timely manner.

OMI officials refused on Friday to discuss any details about the case, but they said they released a public apology in response to a story by KRQE-TV earlier this week that reported Lawrence Ulibarri’s family was notified of his death in March even though he died five months earlier — in October 2016.

The news report said Ulibarri’s family asked OMI if he was at their facility sometime around Thanksgiving and were told he wasn’t. OMI had performed the 53-year-old man’s autopsy about a month earlier.

“It is our responsibility to inform law enforcement of identifications so that family members can be promptly notified, and unfortunately, the OMI system failed,” Dr. Kurt Nolte, OMI’s lead investigator, said in the public statement. “To be clear, this procedural failure did not include the Albuquerque Police Department, which has long been a strong partner in notifying decedent’s families of a death.”

Ulibarri’s family told KRQE that at one point OMI told them that it was Albuquerque police’s job to inform them of their relative’s death.

“We appreciate the fact that they looked into this matter, and we are thankful for the relationship we have with (OMI) during very difficult times,” Police Chief Gorden Eden said in a prepared statement.

Ulibarri’s autopsy report showed that OMI performed his autopsy on Oct. 29, 2016, after he was found facedown on a trail with a bandana and brake cleaner nearby. He was identified through his driver’s license.

The autopsy report lists Ulibarri’s cause of death as chronic ethanol abuse. There was a small amount of alcohol and acetone found in his blood. The autopsy said he may died as a result of huffing brake cleaner, but investigators didn’t test for it.

KRQE reported that Ulibarri struggled with alcoholism and in the past had left his family for stretches at a time. But he would always return for the holidays, which is why his family didn’t inquire about him until around Thanksgiving.

A spokeswoman for the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, which OMI is part of, said that officials are not sure how the lapse happened.

“We wanted to be clear that we understood that there was a fault situation here and we wanted to own it and apologize for the situation,” said Sara Mota, the spokeswoman.