11th victim dies from group home fire; owners to appeal closings

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Authorities reported Thursday an 11th person has died as the result of a fire at a southwest Missouri group home as the owner vowed to appeal a state order closing his four facilities for the mentally ill.

New documents provided Thursday to The Associated Press also revealed at least a dozen occasions in which state health inspectors knew owner Robert DuPont remained involved in the homes' operations, despite being barred from running long-term-care facilities by a conviction in a Medicare and Medicaid fraud scheme.

One of those facilities, the Anderson Guest House, was destroyed by a Nov. 27 fire. Ten people died that day. State Fire Marshal Randy Cole said Thursday that an 11th victim -- Charles Rodney Smith, 42 -- died Sunday at a Springfield hospital from injuries sustained in the fire.

Although not determining an exact reason for the fire, the state fire marshal's office has cited an electrical short or overload in the attic as a possible cause. Investigation reports show a maintenance man trying to fix a furnace short-circuited the electrical wiring running through the attic just hours before the fire was reported.

The state Department of Health and Senior Services last week stripped the operating licenses of all four facilities run by Joplin River of Life Ministries Inc. -- including the Anderson home -- and ordered they close by Jan. 5.

The department asserted the business was illegally operated by DuPont, whose 2003 conviction barred him both from running such facilities and from participating in the Medicaid program.

DuPont said Thursday that many residents had already been moved out of his facilities. River of Life Ministries has until Dec. 30 to appeal the licensure losses to the state Administrative Hearing Commission.

"We're going to appeal," DuPont said in a brief telephone interview Thursday with The Associated Press. "They shouldn't have taken the licenses -- there's been nothing committed to have a license be taken."

Documents provided Thursday to the AP under the state open-records law show more than a dozen instances in recent years where health department inspectors referred to DuPont's involvement with the facilities, including the Anderson home.

On July 6, 2005, a hot-line call by a resident at the Carl Junction Guest House specifically complained that "employee Bob DuPont did prison time for Medicaid fraud, but is still in charge of four facilities."

A subsequent investigation labled the seriousness of the complaint as "minor" and found it "unsubstantiated" for lack of sufficient evidence. The investigation report said records showed the owner of the facility was Joplin River of Life Ministries, and correspondence sent to the facility is not addressed to DuPont. Yet the report added: "Staff interviews revealed the previous owner does continue to have decision making authority for the corporation."

Health department spokeswoman Nanci Gonder on Thursday described the decision to label the complaint unsubstantiated as clearly wrong. She said the department is investigating each incident in which inspectors referenced DuPont's involvement.

"We had evidence of his being involved in the operation, and nothing was done about it," Gonder said. "So we're doing a full investigation to determine exactly what happened."

The department also is reviewing ways to improve its communication, so licensure officials are aware of inspectors' observations and inspectors can keep an eye out for particular people who should not be licensed, she said.

Documents previously obtained by the AP revealed a history of fire safety violations and violent incidents at facilities owned by Robert and LaVerne DuPont. Documents also show that top state regulators suggested in January to Jane Drummond -- then the department's legal counsel -- that their licenses should be revoked because of potential financial insolvency. But the department instead granted River of Life Ministries a series of temporary permits. Drummond is now the department director.