The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • A10

10A SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2019 THE ENQUIRER On a muggy night in June 1984, a 39-year-old father of three went to work at a secretive plant in rural Ohio and disappeared. At David family and coworkers thought maybe fallen asleep somewhere private during his overnight shift. Then, the next day, human bone was discovered in a vat of molten salt at the plant, and it be- came clear that Bocks had met a gruesome fate. disappear- ance and presumed death is the focus of the third season of an investiga- tive podcast from the Cincinnati En- quirer, part of the USA Today Net- work. The podcast releases weekly, beginning Nov.

26 on Patreon and Dec. 3 on Wondery Plus, Apple Pod- casts and other platforms. Bocks was declared legally dead two years after his disappearance at the Fernald Feed Materials Plant, a sprawling processing plant that many neighbors thought pro- duced dog food. In reality, the plant was used to process uranium for nu- clear weapons during The Cold War. The plant or, more accurately, cluster of plants on the property fea- tured a concrete vat containing a slur- ry of potassium chloride and sodium chloride kept at Fahr- enheit.

After disappearance, Fernald employees noticed that a readout showed the temperature in the vat had dipped more than 20 de- grees twice in a 15-minute period just moments after Bocks had last been seen alive. The vat was cooled, then drained, and in addition to the bone fragments, workers found keys, steel from his steel-toe boots, and other bits of metal that had been part of his equip- ment. While the manner of death was never declared by the coro- ner, Hamilton County detec- tives determined that Bocks had killed himself. To do that, Bocks would have had to climb up a ladder to reach the top of the four-foot-tall vat, then drop through a hole measuring just 9 inches by 22 inches. had to get back, run up those steps, and either jump or dive in that small retired Detective Pete Alderucci, one of the original investi- gators on the case, said in a recent in- terview for still think he committed suicide.

still say family has long doubted this explanation for his fate. Pointing to news that broke about months later at the plant detailing serious safety lapses and major leaks of uranium dust, they believe he was murdered. probably knew of hot spots that should have been maybe, and wanting them just for safety said Tony Bocks, David son. he brought it up and was told, you even talk about death make much news at the time, but his case was fea- tured in a segment of the TV show that aired in 1994. While that exposure generat- ed tips, detectives reopen the case.

Over eight episodes, the new sea- son of reexamines death using new interviews with doz- ens of witnesses and experts, never- before-released documents and testi- mony from civil trials that ultimately ended with Fernald and the federal Department of Energy, ac- knowledging that employees and res- idents had long been lied to about the health risks associated with the plant. The podcast also explores mation bias and investigates the myr- iad conspiracy theories surrounding the case some of which have proved true. began in 2016 with an in- vestigation into the 1978 stabbing death of Elizabeth Andes, a 23-year- old graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. boyfriend was charged and acquitted in her murder. Police and the prosecutor decided the jury got the verdict wrong and closed the case rather than pursuing other potential suspects.

The second season of airing the next year, reexamined the 1987 stabbing of Retha Welch, a prison minister, in her Newport, Kentucky, apartment. In that case, a Cincinnati man named William Virgil was tried and convicted of murder. The convic- tion was overturned in 2015 after Vir- DNA found among the three samples found inside of assaulted body. which won two regional Edward R. Murrow awards and has tens of millions of downloads world- wide, reached No.

1 on iTunes and has been included on podcast lists since its launch. A trailer for The Mysteri- ous Death of David is at www.accusedpodcast.com. Puzzling death focus of podcast Amber Hunt Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK A molten salt vat at the Fernald plant. David Bocks was declared legally dead two years after his disappearance in 1984 at the Fernald plant. SUBMITTED Bocks Cincinnati Hospital Medical Center acknowledged Friday that an number of pa- tients recently got a wrongly mixed batch of a blood pressure medication.

One 11-month-old boy received 57 doses of a drug each 10 times strong- er than required. Hospital released a state- ment after the parents of the baby boy wrote about the overdosing Thursday on their Facebook page. The baby sur- vived. In a statement, the hospital said it could not release any more informa- tion to protect patient privacy, so not known how many patients were given the overdose or what outcomes occurred. The hospital did not say whether the drug had been created in its own pharmacy or whether it came from an outside supplier.

Cincinnati discovered that a number of patients received an incorrectly compounded medication, clonidine suspension, most often used for treating high blood the statement said. safety is always our founda- tional responsibility. Upon discovery, this incorrectly compounded cloni- dine was and pulled from use. the pa- tients who received this clonidine so- lution and communicated the neces- sary medical information to the ap- propriate providers. The pa- tients were appropriately monitored, and all symptoms and side were addressed.

Information about the error and medical management was disclosed to patients and families with recognized acute symptoms. of patient privacy, we are unable to provide any further infor- mation regarding the patients. We are working to improve our systems to help prevent this type of event from happening in the James and Emily Mummert of Bea- vercreek, Ohio, in suburban Dayton are the parents of the baby boy, Finn, who received the 57 doses. On their Facebook page, FinnStrong, the par- ents said he survived the clonidine overdosing, although his kidneys have been compromised. Finn was born Dec.

27 with Down syndrome and other serious health problems. He has been in intensive care at since January. On the Facebook page, the parents expressed anger at the facility for the medical mistake. They wrote that the overdose was the third error in care, and they have complaints with the Ohio Department of Health and the U.S. Joint Commission, which monitors American hospitals.

Hospital has been ranked the No. 3 pediatric hospital in the United States by U.S. News World Report. Hospital admits to drug dosage mix-up Anne Saker Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK Cincinnati Hospital Medical Center has been ranked the No. 3 pediatric hospital in the United States by U.S.

News World Report. PROVIDED.