Woman trapped in Elevator for 3 days in NYC Townhouse

Mevater

Tue, Jan 29 2019, 10:04 am

This is unusual. No family members of hers realized shes unreachable for three days?
https://nypost.com/2019/01/28/.....ator/

Marites Fortaliza, 53, was only saved from her prison — a roughly 3-foot by 4-foot metal box — when a courier tried to make a delivery to the home at 48 E. 65th St. and unknowingly set into motion a life-saving chain of events.

“Who knows how long it would have been before somebody came home and found her” without the delivery guy, said an astonished law-enforcement source.

Fortaliza had been tending to the otherwise empty home of billionaire investor and conservative political mega-donor Warren Stephens when the lift broke down between the second and third floors Friday evening, authorities said.

With Stephens and his wife away in their home state of Arkansas, Fortaliza languished in the elevator, cut off from the outside world, for at least 60 hours.

She was only saved when the courier, puzzled that there was no answer at the Madison Avenue-adjacent building Monday morning, called the owners, officials said.

Stephens’s adult daughter then swung by to check things out and made the find, they said.

The daughter dialed 911 around 10 a.m., sending the FDNY racing to the landmarked, five-story townhouse, according to authorities.

A team of firefighters cracked open the stalled lift, freed Fortaliza and took her to New York-Presbyterian Hospital, where her husband rushed to her side. Officials said the Queens woman is in good health.

“She’s staying in the hospital because she wants to get rested. She’s alright. She just wants to get a good rest,” the woman’s husband said outside their Queens home on Monday night.

“The employee involved has been a valued member of the Stephens extended family for 18 years,” read a statement from the family’s investment banking firm, which famously provided early capital that helped Wal-Mart get off the ground. “The Stephens family is relieved that she is doing well in the hospital.

“A Stephens family member accompanied her to the hospital this morning and remains at her side. The cause of this unfortunate incident is being investigated, and appropriate measures will be taken to ensure that something like this never happens again.”

But Monday afternoon, an unidentified man at the townhouse refused to let a city Department of Buildings inspector inside to check out the balky lift, forcing the hapless evaluator to slap a notice of “failure to maintain” on the posh pad’s front door.

That marks the second such violation filed against the building under Stephens’s ownership, with the first coming in 2008, public records show.

Stephens bought the property for $8 million in 1999, according to reports at the time.

Elevators not constantly monitored are required to contain emergency buttons or phone lines for use in situations exactly like Fortaliza’s.

But because the DOB was left out in the cold, it wasn’t immediately clear whether the elevator was compliant.

Records indicate that the elevator was inspected by a private company as recently as July 2018 and found to be in working order.

Fortaliza’s Queens Village neighbors struggled to comprehend how the “always friendly” woman withstood the claustrophobia-inducing nightmare.

“Thank God she’s alright,” said Delores Boyland, 75. “I would have felt … Forget about it! That would be it for me.”

thunderstorm

Tue, Jan 29 2019, 10:10 am

That's crazy. There should be some time of emergency button that reaches the FDNY or something.

mom2mysouls

Tue, Jan 29 2019, 10:35 am

Lack of emergency button
Lack of cell phone
Lack of husband noticing

Things can happen. Interesting they coincided together though.

thunderstorm

Tue, Jan 29 2019, 10:44 am

mom2mysouls wrote:

Lack of emergency button
Lack of cell phone
Lack of husband noticing

Things can happen. Interesting they coincided together though.

It seems she was a live in and didn't see her husband all week. If she was taking out the garbage she wouldn't necessarily have her cell phone on her.
That's why I find the lack of emergency button the most concerning.

ra_mom

Tue, Jan 29 2019, 11:18 am

That is terribly frightening! I hope she is ok.

Mevater

Tue, Jan 29 2019, 11:21 am

ra_mom wrote:

That is terribly frightening! I hope she is ok.

Yes it seems she is ok. She was released from the hospital.

veiznisht

Tue, Jan 29 2019, 2:39 pm

I was trapped in an elevator in my old office building for three hours one night. I can't imagine the horror of three days. She should sue her employer.

Blessing1

Tue, Jan 29 2019, 2:51 pm

She shlould "sue" her husband as well. Which husband doesnt check up on his wife? Let alone for 3 days??? Something is fishy here.

ra_mom

Tue, Jan 29 2019, 4:34 pm

veiznisht wrote:

I was trapped in an elevator in my old office building for three hours one night. I can't imagine the horror of three days. She should sue her employer.

OMG!

icebreaker

Tue, Jan 29 2019, 4:37 pm

I was stuck in an elevator for an hour and that was enough!! I cannot imagine 3 days! Very happy and relieved to see she is okay! What a story she has for the rest of her life.

oliveoil

Tue, Jan 29 2019, 5:00 pm

Blessing1 wrote:

She shlould "sue" her husband as well. Which husband doesnt check up on his wife? Let alone for 3 days??? Something is fishy here.

Seriously? Why are you creating stories?

Blessing1

Tue, Jan 29 2019, 5:21 pm

Oliveoil, I'm not creating stories, these are legitimate questions.

gingertop

Tue, Jan 29 2019, 5:24 pm

There was this crazy neighbor that was interviewed and he's like "people can survive much longer than 72 hours. We're just too civilized so we're not used to it..."
Did anyone else see that cukoo clip?

Blessing1

Tue, Jan 29 2019, 5:42 pm

I heard about the clip, I didnt see it.
I have a feeling there's more to this story and maybe we'll find out after the investigation is complete.

iyar

Tue, Jan 29 2019, 5:43 pm

I was in an elevator that jolted to a stop between floors. I was not alone. The lights flickered, went off, and then everything went back to normal. The whole incident took about two or three minutes. My heart didn't get back to its normal rhythm for two or three hours.
That poor woman! I hope she gets at least a month paid vacation.

ectomorph

Tue, Jan 29 2019, 6:20 pm

I'm sure the family will compensate her well in exchange for not suing them, then promptly find a new housekeeper and have the emergency button ring their cell phones

Raisin

Wed, Jan 30 2019, 4:04 am

I didn't know they made elevators with no emergency buttons. Maybe this was a really old one.

imasoftov

Wed, Jan 30 2019, 7:46 am

mom2mysouls wrote:

Lack of husband noticing

Could you quote the lines where the article says that?

crust

Wed, Jan 30 2019, 8:03 am

imasoftov wrote:

Could you quote the lines where the article says that?

It doesn't say he did notice either. It doesnt say he was concerned that she didn't reply to texts or answer the phone for 60 hours either.
Makes you think how much he noticed.

That she could be there without anyone even looking for her is what bothers me the most.

Mevater

Wed, Jan 30 2019, 8:10 am

crust wrote:

Absolutely!

Even if she was a live-in, I think its pretty rare for a husband and wife who are on good terms, not to communicate with one another at all for THREE days.