- Randy Vaughan suffered a stroke at home in North Carolina and later died in a hospice.
- A realtor had seen him lying on the floor of his home but had not called for help.
- The realtor wrote in a report that he was unsure if Vaughan was dead or had drunk too much.
The family of a 69-year-old man is calling for an investigation into his death, saying he suffered a stroke and a real estate agent saw him on the floor but left without helping.
Randy Vaughan from North Carolina was found unresponsive in his home on February 14 after his family became concerned that he had not called to wish his grandson on his birthday, the Winston-Salem Journal newspaper reported.
It was determined that he had suffered multiple strokes and developed pneumonia, and the family had to move him to hospice care, where he later died on February 22.
His family later learned that a realtor had visited the house in High Rock Lake the previous day for a showing and heard him grunt but left rather than helping him.
“She did document it on a feedback form,” Doug Vaughan, his younger brother, told the paper. “To take the time to write that up instead of calling 911. It’s about basic decency, caring for your fellow human beings, and being a professional.”
In the feedback form, a screenshot of which has been seen by the Winston-Salem Journal, the realtor wrote that he was unsure whether the man was dead or if he had drunk too much alcohol the night before.
“Gentleman was passed out naked on the floor between the bed and the wall!,” the feedback form says, according to the paper. “All I could see at first was two feet sticking out from behind the bed! One foot with a sock hanging onto his toes.
“I was concerned that he was dead! I asked are you okay no response, so I moved in closer and saw he was naked so I moved back but asked again, and he moved and grunted, but we ran out of the house! I didn’t want him waking up to me standing over him!”
“I hope he is okay but maybe had too much to drink Superbowl Sunday,” she wrote.
Vaughan’s family has raised concerns about the incident and the realtor’s responsibility in it, as they say he might have been saved if she had called for help.
“We really believe this could have been prevented if she had called somebody,” his daughter Heather Jefferson said. “It’s not fair. It’s just not.”
The state agency responsible for overseeing realtors in North Carolina has suggested it plans to launch an inquiry into the matter and is arranging interviews with Vaughan’s family members further to investigate his passing, per the Winston-Salem Journal.
The realtor, Ellen-Nora Deese, told the paper: “I have an attorney involved. I have no liability there.”