Friends Thought Missing Swimmer Had Walked Home

Marie Joseph's body found in public pool days later
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 1, 2011 10:40 AM CDT
Body in Pool: Friends Thought Marie Joseph Had Walked Home Alone
This Sunday, June 26, photo shows Marie Joseph, foreground, holding Dalianys Melendez in the public swimming pool at Lafayette Park in Fall River, Mass.   (Candella Matta)

The public swimming pool where a woman's body may have gone unnoticed by lifeguards, health inspectors, and swimmers for more than two days had an expired permit. Investigators were poring over surveillance video and conducting interviews as they tried to figure out what happened to 36-year-old Marie Joseph. The state medical examiner completed an autopsy, but the findings haven't been made public. Jones went swimming with neighborhood friends on Sunday, and her body was found in the pool Tuesday night.

Authorities said she had not been reported missing. Her friends said they thought she simply walked away from the pool. Her boyfriend's calls went unreturned, but he thought she wanted to be alone. After the discovery, Massachusetts officials closed 24 state-run deep-water swimming pools and suspended staff at the Fall River pool. A state public health director said it's unlikely that a body in the pool would create a health risk, because the chlorine in the water would keep it safe for human contact. (More Massachusetts stories.)

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