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American Morning

World Trade Center Widow Committed Suicide Early in Week

Aired December 14, 2001 - 08:55   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: You're looking at a scene from just minutes ago at ground zero where another body was recovered. Rescue workers forming an honor guard, as that body was removed. A scene born out, far too many times here in this city. But each time the rescue workers come upon another victim, they honor that victim with great dignity. We thought that was worth showing to you.

Three months after the terror attacks on the World Trade Center, perhaps one of the last direct fatalities. David Bernard of Massachusetts was attending a business meeting at the World Trade Center when the planes hit. He was struck by falling debris when the buildings collapsed. For a while, it looked like he might recover, but earlier this week, Bernard's injuries and infections claimed his life. His family was there when he died. His wife said she was grateful for the three extra months she had with him.

While David Bernard died from injuries in the attack, we've gotten word of another death stemming from the tragedy. We learned this week that the widow of a World Trade Center victim has taken her own life. A family friend said she died as a result of the collapse, just as surely as if she had been standing next to her husband.

That story now from Garrick Utley.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARRICK UTLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Theirs was a story of tragedy, twice over. Joseph Flounders, who lost his life on that day in September, and Patricia Flounders who took her life, this week.

They had finished work on their dream home, three days before the 11th. They built it amid the greenery of rural Pennsylvania, to escape the big city, New York. And each weekday morning, Joseph arose at 3:30, to reach his desk in a trading room at the World Trade Center.

Patricia Flounders saw the flames on television when the first tower was struck. She called her husband, who was in the second tower, and told him to get out. He said he would, but was helping a colleague who was hysterical. And then. And then.

After 21 years of marriage, Patricia Flounders was devastated and depressed. She had fought cancer, she had also just had a pacemaker implanted. She organized a memorial service at a church next to the World Trade Center site.

In "The New York Times", a journal of record and memory, amid brief portraits of grief, Joseph Flounder's thirst to find sanctuary in his new home was remembered.

But for Patricia Flounders remembering was too painful. A friend says she lost the will to live. So she took a gun and took her life. As with others who lost family members on September 11th, she had been offered free counseling to help with her grief. She refused it.

Garrick Utley, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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