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Among the medical investigators called in by New York Governor George Pataki after the 1996 crash of TWA Flight 800 was Mary Jumbelic. Deputy chief medical examiner for the city of Syracuse, New York, Jumbelic is a UMBC graduate with a medical degree from
the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
Jumbelic was part of the team with the grim duty to autopsy the victims and identify their remains. It was not the first or last time she's been involved in challenging, high-profile cases. Even more recently, she was asked to work with Physicians for Hu
man Rights, an international organization investigating the mass deaths in Bosnia.
"Doing what I do, to chronicle death," she says, "could be viewed as a profession surrounded by sadness. But as I do this work I feel I am an advocate for the victims. Hopefully, my findings may prevent similar tragedies from happening
in the future."
For further proof, check the warning labels on big, 5-gallon buckets in your local hardware store.
The drowning deaths of 13 toddlers in Chicago convinced Jumbelic, then on
the staff of the Cook County Medical Examiner's office, that the large
buckets may have played the primary role in the deaths of these children.
Jumbelic reported this evidence to the U.S. Products Safety Commission
and her subsequent report, published in the April, 1990, Journal of the
American Medical Association, substantiated the findings. As a result,
many manufacturers now voluntarily put warning labels on these
containers--a small, but significant accomplishment which
has helped parents safeguard their children's lives.
1979
Mary Jumbelic, M.D.
B.S., Biological Sciences
Forensic Pathologist
Syracuse, New York