Lyvita Gomes starves to death

There is a sad, sad story in today's Chicago Tribune....an example of someone falling through the cracks. Lyvita Gomes was living in a hotel in Vernon Hills. When funeral home workers cleaned out her room, they found some jewelry, an image of the Virgin Mary, and photos that recalled her family in India and her days as a successful, sharply dressed airline trainer. According to the Chicago Tribune "Gomes grew up in a suburb of Mumbai, and her brother described her as optimistic, helpful and high-achieving. She studied biochemistry and education in college, wrote a math textbook and took a job as a Pan Am flight attendant in 1986. Later, after Delta took over Pan Am, she was promoted to in-flight training supervisor and in 1999 was nominated for the airline's prestigious Chairman's Club award."

The funeral home also found stacks of mail, much of it unopened, going back seven years. In that pile was a jury summons that marked the beginning of Gomes' fatal downward spiral...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-inmate-starves-20120120,0,717538.story

Photo of Lyvita Gomes in Chicago Tribune