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Jessie Peterson's family sues California hospital in case of concealed death

When Jessie Peterson was unable to leave a Sacramento-area hospital last year, her family began a desperate search. A year later, they learned she had been dead in the morgue the entire time.

A California woman her family had been searching for for a year remained dead and decomposing in the morgue of a Northern California hospital the entire time because the hospital never informed the family of her death, a new lawsuit alleges.

Jessie Marie Peterson, 31, died of cardiac arrest on April 8, 2023, at Mercy San Juan Medical Center in Carmichael, California. Her family, including her mother Ginger Congi, did not learn of the death until April 12, 2024, according to a civil lawsuit obtained by USA TODAY.

“I had terrible fears that she was lying somewhere, decomposing, and nobody knew where she was, and that we might never see her again,” Congi told USA TODAY. “It turns out she was lying somewhere decomposing, but someone knew where she was and didn't tell us.”

The lawsuit, filed Aug. 7 in Sacramento Superior Court, alleges that Mercy San Juan Medical Center, whose parent company is Dignity Health, stated that Peterson discharged himself against medical advice on April 8, 2023. In truth, “Jessie died while in the care of Mercy San Juan,” the lawsuit states.

She was admitted to the hospital on April 6, 2023, after a diabetic attack, the document says.

Peterson's death certificate was not completed until nearly a year after her death, the lawsuit states. Unaware of her death, Peterson's family “tried tirelessly to locate her,” including filing a missing person's report with the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office, the court document states.

The lawsuit also alleges that this is not the first time Mercy San Juan has “mistreated” a deceased person. Since news of Peterson's case spread, family attorney Marc Greenberg told USA TODAY that other people have called him to tell him their loved ones suffered similar fates at Dignity Health hospitals.

“We extend our deepest condolences to the family during this difficult time. We cannot comment on ongoing litigation,” a Dignity Health spokesperson told USA TODAY.

Jessie Marie Peterson’s body found “decomposed”

The Sacramento County Detective's Office notified Congi and others on April 12 that they found Peterson dead at Mercy San Juan Hospital, the complaint states. Her body was kept in the hospital's morgue.

“At this point, Jessie's body was so decomposed that an open casket burial was not possible and Jessie's fingerprints were not even available as a keepsake,” the lawsuit continues. “Mercy San Juan Hospital advertises that 'in our care facilities, we pride ourselves on treating all people with dignity and respect.' In this case, there was neither dignity nor respect.”

On the day of Peterson's death, she called Congi and asked her mother to pick her up because she was leaving the hospital, the lawsuit says. That would be the last time Congi heard her daughter speak, as Peterson was pronounced dead by the medical center at 4:27 p.m., two hours after that phone call.

“It's pretty heartbreaking that we now know that less than 24 hours after she died, she was just taken to a storage facility and placed on a shelf in a freezer somewhere and forgotten,” Congi said. “It makes me angry that they just threw her away like she was a piece of furniture.”

Who was Jessie Marie Peterson?

Peterson, who grew up in Sacramento with her sisters Angie and Chandra, is described in the lawsuit as a “very loving and energetic person.” At age 10, she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, which “impacted her energy and participation in gymnastics at a younger age.”

“She loved all of us. She was the kind of kid who would give you the last Jelly Belly out of your bag, even if it was full of lint,” Congi said, according to WXIA-TV.

Peterson was a member of the water polo and dance teams at Roseville High School before graduating and attending Sierra College in Rocklin, Calif., the lawsuit says. She then became a prosecutor in the Placer County Peer Court.

Peterson had been admitted to Mercy San Juan Hospital prior to her death, including on January 10, 2023, when she suffered another diabetic attack. According to the complaint, she also underwent surgery at the medical center on January 14, 2023, to treat an infection in her right foot.

“While a patient who does not survive may be just another lifeless body to Mercy San Juan Hospital, Jessie was a family member, a daughter and a sister, all of whom deserved the dignity and respect that Mercy San Juan grossly denied them. To this day, the hospital has not apologized to Jessie's family members,” the complaint states.

Peterson's family is seeking $5 million in damages and “five times the actual damages awarded by the jury” to “punish” the medical center for “its egregious and inexcusable negligence and total disregard for Jessie's dignity,” the lawsuit says.

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