deceasedhomelesscityhall A dead body that lie outside Long Beach City Hall as people arrived at the downtown civic center just past 7 on Thursday morning went publicly unmentioned by the Long Beach Police Department for more than six hours, even as GreaterLongBeach.com tried repeatedly to reach the department’s public information office by telephone.

Finally, near 2 p.m., LBPost.com reached LBPD public information officer Nancy Pratt, who said the deceased person, likely one of the homeless people who populate nearby Lincoln Park, was a woman.  

GreaterLongBeach.com telephoned the LBPD, repeatedly waited on hold, and once left a message requesting information.

At 2:55 p.m., LBPD public information officer, Lisa Massacani, contacted GreaterLongBeach.com to echo the small details Pratt had provided. “It has been deemed an ‘undetermined death’ meaning the coroner will have to determine the official cause of death,” Massacani said. “However, there were no obvious signs of trauma to the body and there doesn’t appear to be foul play involved.”

Massacani added her apologies for the slow response, explaining that members of the Public Information Department had been in meetings during the day, pointing out that the department consists of only three people and offering a couple of tips that might achieve a faster response under similar conditions in the future.