Dispatchers Drawn Into Airport Death Story

Dispatchers who work at the Phoenix (Ariz.) airport were drawn into a nationwide news story when it was revealed they fielded calls from a man warning that his wife was in custody by police and was suicidal. Noah Gotbaum called from New York City after learning his wife Carol had been arrested for creating a disturbance at the airport. She died from unknown causes in a holding cell about an hour before Noah Gotbaum called. New York newspapers claimed the husband called before she died, and that dispatchers ignored his warnings not to leave her alone in a holding cell. Phoenix police officials say airline officials reported the disturbance at 2:49 p.m., Gotbaum was found unconscious at 3:15 p.m., and declared dead at 3:29 p.m. Noah Gotbaum called some time after that, police said, without giving exact times for his calls.