Dr. G: Medical Examiner - Season 2, Episode 2 - The Mourning After - Full Episode | Forensic Files

[MUSIC PLAYING] NARRATOR: A woman agrees to go on a vacation with her ex-husband, though she hasn't seen him in 15 years.
How many chances are you gonna get to go on a cruise? NARRATOR: But on the morning they are to set sail,
she finds him dead in the bath tub. It's a very strange situation. You know, a man, 43, shouldn't just drown in a bathtub.
Something has to happen to you. NARRATOR: Then, a father lets his only son sleep
off a late night of partying. Son? NARRATOR: Only to make a horrifying discovery.
His son isn't sleeping. I could see that he was, uh, dead before I ever crossed the room.
NARRATOR: And no one knows how it happened. ANITA SEAMANS: I remember standing looking down
on-- on this young man thinking that this man shouldn't be dead. NARRATOR: Altered lives.
Baffling medical mysteries. Shocking revelations. These are the everyday cases of Dr. G, Medical Examiner.
[MUSIC PLAYING] Hi. CLERK: Hi, how are you all? NARRATOR: At first glance, Vesta and Rusty
seem like any happy couple. They've just flown into Orlando, Florida. And in the morning, they plan to embark
on a 10-day Caribbean cruise. But first impressions can be deceiving. This is the first time they've seen
each other since their divorce 15 years ago. VESTA: He was a drinker. And it worked its way into the relationship,
and it was not good. I just asked him to leave, and he did. NARRATOR: But a few months earlier,
Rusty called out of the blue. He'd come into an inheritance and wanted to treat Vesta to a Caribbean cruise.
It was a strange offer, but one that the unemployed Vesta couldn't refuse. VESTA: How many chances are you're
gonna get to go on a cruise? And I know him, so it was a nice safe bet. NARRATOR: Vesta had just one very clear condition for Rusty.
VESTA: I told him that I would love to go with him, but that I didn't want him to be drunk the whole time.
And he said he could, you know, live like that. So I thought it was gonna be pretty fun.
NARRATOR: So 15 years after the end of her marriage, Vesta finds herself catching up with her ex-husband
over dinner, eagerly awaiting the promised cruise. So far, Rusty seems to be keeping his promise,
nursing a single beer. But something about him is not quite right. VESTA: He looked haggard.
That's a good word for that. He looked sick. NARRATOR: Rusty confirms that in fact he has been extremely ill.
He tells Vesta that he had been hospitalized with a stroke the previous year, and that later he was
diagnosed with prostate cancer. VESTA: He told me that he'd had a stroke and just
all sorts of horrible things. And I had the distinct impression that he was not gonna be around very much longer.
NARRATOR: When the couple returns to their room, Vesta can't help noticing that Rusty is trembling badly.
VESTA: He shook all night long. It was probably right up there on the list of one of the oddest things I've ever been around.
I had my hand on his back, rubbing his back, and it was just-- it was shaking too much.
NARRATOR: The next morning, Rusty is up at the crack of dawn, complaining about how cold he is.
I'm cold. NARRATOR: His shivering is worse. So he decides to take a bath to warm up.
In the meantime, Vesta gets ready for her long anticipated cruise. VESTA: I had, like, probably a month, you know,
to sit there and contemplate this trip. So I packed everything I own, basically.
NARRATOR: Then she realizes that Rusty is taking a long time in the bathroom. VESTA: I was going to tell him, you know, hurry up.
I have to get ready too. [KNOCKING] NARRATOR: She knocks on the door and enters to a chilling scene.
Rusty has collapsed unconscious in the tub. Frantically, she tries to revive him, but there's no response.
VESTA: Having to hit him in the face was very strange. He didn't wake up and yell at me, don't hit me.
You know, so I knew that he wasn't gonna wake up. NARRATOR: She holds his head above water, drains the tub,
and then calls 9-1-1. Sir? Sir? NARRATOR: Paramedics and police arrived to a baffling scene.
There's a dead man in the bathtub, and his ex-wife can't explain how he got that way.
VESTA: I guess I was afraid of them, 'cause I-- you know, who knows what police are gonna do in a situation?
They don't know that I haven't hurt him. And that was scary, you know? NARRATOR: Rusty is officially pronounced dead at 9:50 AM,
just 10 minutes before Vesta was to embark on her dream cruise. At a loss to explain his death, police turn over the perplexing
case of Rusty Updike to Orlando's chief medical examiner, Dr. Jan Garavaglia, better known as Dr. G.
First of all, the only thing we had initially about this patient is that he's 43 years old,
and he's very excited to go on a cruise with his ex-wife. It's a very strange situation.
I think we needed a lot of information. So you know, a man, 43, shouldn't just drown in a bathtub.
Something has to happen to you. NARRATOR: Given the circumstances, Dr. G will examine Rusty's body for signs of foul play.
But she also suspects that one of his reported illnesses could be the culprit. DR. G: I thought it was maybe another stroke that caused
him to collapse in the bathtub. VESTA: I got a call from Dr. G. And she was asking me questions
about what I had told the police about him having a stroke and things like that.
DR. G: Here she is, you know, her dead ex in the bathtub. So even though we have a history that he's
got some terrible diseases, we still-- I mean, this needs to be autopsied. We have a thin man, looks a stated age of mid 40s.
NARRATOR: Dr. G begins by closely examining Rusty's body for any signs that might indicate an assault.
There's a tiny little abrasion on his side that my investigator said that he got when he was trying
to get him out of the bathtub. NARRATOR: There was no sign of struggle, and she finds no trauma to the face or neck that
would point to suffocation. DR. G: Nothing external whatsoever. Not a bit of trauma.
NARRATOR: It's a good sign for Vesta. But while there are no outward indications
of what killed Rusty, the internal exam should provide some answers. Dr. G makes the classic Y incision across the torso,
cutting from shoulder to sternum. Considering that he was found in the tub, she first looks for signs of drowning.
If he had drowned, his lungs would be filled with fluid. His lungs show no evidence whatsoever of any drowning.
No fluid when I cut the lung. So there is nothing to suggest a drowning. It looks like he probably had something happen to him prior
to putting his head under. NARRATOR: Halfway through the autopsy, Dr. G has found no signs of violence and confirms
that Rusty didn't drown. I don't have a reason to think she killed him. It's hard to put somebody under water in a bathtub.
They knew that I hadn't done anything to hurt him. So that was good. I was pretty interested, really, and eager to find
out what he had died from. NARRATOR: But while Vesta can now breathe a sigh of relief,
for Dr. G, the hard part is just beginning. Coming up, Rusty Updike's autopsy appears to have Dr. G stumped.
It's just kind of odd. We don't really know what's going on with him. NARRATOR: When Dr. G Medical Examiner continues.
[MUSIC PLAYING] As they do during all autopsies, morgue technicians extract blood, urine, and eye fluid samples
from the corpse of Rusty Updike, a 43-year-old man found dead in a hotel bathtub earlier that morning.
We're gonna definitely send off that blood for toxicology. NARRATOR: After eliminating foul play as a suspect in Rusty's
strange death, Dr. G must now focus her investigation on natural causes. I started the autopsy thinking I
was gonna find just a whole host of natural diseases in this fellow, who seemed to be quite sick.
We got the information that he was in the hospital for three weeks with a cerebral vascular accident, a bleed in his brain
or a stroke in his brain. NARRATOR: Before trying to determine which, if any, of these potentially fatal ailments killed Rusty,
Dr. G learns more about his most serious long-term illness, alcoholism. VESTA: Rusty at first was very charming, you know?
He was fun to be around. NARRATOR: Vesta met Rusty Updike when he was a young firefighter
in his early 20s. The couple decided to tie the knot after the arrival of a baby girl, Natis.
But according to family members, not everything was picture perfect at home. Growing up he was actually a pretty
good dad, when he wasn't drunk. I wish that he wouldn't drink all the time, but I knew that he wasn't gonna change.
NARRATOR: After six years, Rusty's alcoholism made the union unbearable for Vesta.
He had lost his job. We were gonna lose the house. You know, it was-- it was just all too much.
And I just asked him to leave, and he did. NARRATOR: She would not see him again until the fateful trip
to Orlando. The organ which typically tells the dark story of an alcoholic is the liver.
But when Dr. G takes a closer look, what she finds surprises her. Liver for a chronic alcoholic doesn't look too bad.
Looks like he might have some fatty changes, but certainly not cirrhotic. NARRATOR: She can rule out any liver disease
related to his alcohol abuse. But more potential killers are lurking in his reported medical history, beginning
with the prostate gland. We got the information that he might have prostate cancer
and that it may be quite severe. NARRATOR: Dr. G reaches below the bladder and removes the prostate gland, where according to Vesta
there should be signs of pathology. But when she dissects the walnut sized gland,
she is once again taken aback. DR. G: I look at his prostate, and his prostate looks just fine.
There is no evidence of prostate cancer at all. It looked just great. NARRATOR: It's puzzling.
For someone who was as sick as Rusty claimed to be, she can find no evidence of it.
Only one organ remains that might reveal what caused this man to die in a hotel bathroom, the brain.
Surely the answer's in the head because he's had this big stroke. He had to spend three weeks in the hospital.
And that'll give me the answer. I was just looking to see if I could see any evidence
of an old stroke externally. Could be just a small-- like a hypertensive stroke on the inside.
NARRATOR: She thoroughly sections his brain and closely examines the vessels for any signs of bleeding
or clots, but he encounters yet another inexplicable dead end. And open the head, and there is nothing wrong with it.
Nothing wrong with his brain whatsoever. Medulla. They all look fine. I don't really see anything.
NARRATOR: In fact, there is no telltale scarring in his brain tissue that indicates Rusty ever had a stroke,
and no tumors or malignant tissue in his prostate that would point to any cancer.
Keep getting this history that he's-- you know, had a stroke and had this prostate problem that
he should get himself, uh-- his papers in order, but yeah, we're not really seeing much.
NARRATOR: It now appears that the medical information provided to Dr. G is inaccurate.
It's just kinda odd. We don't really know what's going on with him. I'm definitely gonna talk to his doctor.
NARRATOR: It's rare, but it happens. Dr. G is stumped. The toxicological samples may shed further light.
This is OK. NARRATOR: But first, she'll have to cut through this web of misinformation to get to the bottom
of Rusty's mysterious death. Coming up, one phone call takes the investigation into a whole new direction.
I got a totally different picture of this man. NARRATOR: And later, a young man's mysterious death.
I don't know why he's dead. There's no real apparent reason for it. NARRATOR: Leads Dr. G to a microscopic killer that
can strike without warning. DR. G: You don't know what life has for you. And it's one of those things.
You can't do anything about it. NARRATOR: When "Dr. G Medical Examiner" continues.
[MUSIC PLAYING] Dr. G orders her investigators to track down Rusty Updike's medical records from his hometown,
Memphis, Tennessee. We need to go do little more investigation here. NARRATOR: The autopsy is over, and she finds herself
in unfamiliar territory. I don't have a clue what's going on with this man. None of this history was confirmed at autopsy.
NARRATOR: While waiting for the hospital records, Dr. G has another idea. Vesta has given police Rusty's home phone number in Memphis.
I knew that he lived at a motel because of the way I had to dial the phone. And he was living with a friend of his at the time.
I wanted to talk to that roommate myself and see what he knew and what was really going on.
NARRATOR: Dr. G makes the call and quickly learns that Rusty's life after he left his family had been far
tougher than anyone realized. I got a totally different picture of this man. This is a man that lives in a kind of homeless shelter motel.
Um, which I didn't know. All that time I was talking to him on the phone, I didn't know that.
NARRATOR: And the roommate reveals more. Apparently, in the weeks before his trip to Orlando,
Rusty's inheritance had paid for his serious drinking binge. He's a big time alcoholic--
very big time alcoholic-- and is rarely without alcohol in his system. NARRATOR: Finally, the elusive hospital records arrive.
They confirm that Rusty had indeed been hospitalized for three weeks, as he had told his ex-wife,
but not for the reasons he had claimed. DR. G: He was not in the hospital for a stroke.
He did not have prostate cancer. He was in the hospital for effects of chronic alcoholism.
NARRATOR: According to his records, while in the hospital, Rusty suffered a serious case of delirium tremens, or the DTs.
DR. G: He started going into alcohol withdrawal seizures and had to be medicated for that.
NARRATOR: Because alcohol is a depressant, it decreases the activity of an alcoholic's brain cells,
or neurons, causing the symptoms associated with heavy drinking-- slurred speech, coordination
loss, and numbness. After prolonged exposure to alcohol, the neurons of an alcoholic like Rusty's speed up to compensate
for the depressive effects. But if alcohol is suddenly removed from the bloodstream,
these neurons are caught in overdrive, triggering all sorts of problems. You start having physical symptoms without the alcohol.
NARRATOR: One common symptom of alcohol withdrawal is autonomic dysfunction. The nervous system simply loses its ability to control
the body's temperature. Severe trembling can also set in as the brain cells overstimulate muscles.
Other symptoms are even more serious. You can have even hallucinations and psychosis and seizures.
NARRATOR: In such seizures, the brain cells lapse into uncontrolled, continuous firing,
overloading entire areas of the brain. When not medically supervised, sudden withdrawal
for a serious alcoholic like Rusty can be fatal up to 35% of the time. The fact that Rusty was hospitalized
with alcohol withdrawal syndrome might explain why he had lied to Vesta. It's hard to say, I spent three weeks in the hospital
because of alcohol. It's a little easier to say, I spent three weeks in the hospital because I had a cerebral vascular
accident and a stroke. NARRATOR: But these revelations about Rusty's hospitalization
still don't provide an answer to his death. She already knows he wasn't murdered
and that his various reported illnesses weren't responsible. But now there's another possibility.
Perhaps Rusty had another bout of alcohol withdrawal syndrome. The results from his toxicology samples
should provide a definitive answer. When the report comes back, it shows that virtually no ethanol was found in Rusty's blood, urine,
or eye fluid samples. And that could mean real trouble for a serious alcoholic like Rusty.
With this final piece of the puzzle, Dr. G now has an answer to the mystery of what killed Rusty Updike.
Rusty Updike is a homeless alcoholic when he receives an inheritance. He uses it to go on a massive drinking binge
with his roommate in Memphis. The two of them, I imagine, went through $28,000 in a really short period of time.
NARRATOR: With the money left over, he invites his ex-wife Vesta on a luxurious cruise.
Though she hasn't seen him in 15 years, she agrees to go, under one condition-- that he not get drunk like he did when they were married.
Rusty agrees, and keeps his promise. DR. G: They had dinner together. And he just had one beer.
One beer's nothing for this man. He's usually drinking 12 and more a day. NARRATOR: Over dinner, Rusty tells Vesta
that he recently had a stroke and was also diagnosed with prostate cancer. DR. G: All of his stories about all of his illnesses
were just made up. And all of his illnesses boil down to chronic alcohol abuse and having withdraw seizures from chronic alcohol abuse.
NARRATOR: Having had only one beer the whole day, Rusty begins to experience alcohol withdrawal,
causing severe tremors. His nervous system, accustomed to compensating for the depressive effect of huge quantities of alcohol,
goes into overdrive. The tremulous can occur within starting six hours after-- after your alcohol level goes down.
NARRATOR: Rusty's body begins to experience autonomic dysfunction, losing the ability to regulate
its own temperature. The result-- he's freezing. DR. G: He's cold. He just feels horrible.
And so that's why he ends up wanting to take a bath. NARRATOR: While in the bathtub trying to warm up,
his alcohol withdrawal takes a fatal turn. ACTOR PLAYING VESTA: Rusty. Rusty. He dies in the bathtub, most likely
from either a seizure or cardiac arrhythmia associated with his alcohol withdrawal.
NARRATOR: Rusty Updike kept his promise to Vesta. He stayed sober for their vacation.
He's trying to act as best for her. And unfortunately, that's what does him in. NARRATOR: But Vesta believes there's more to it.
She thinks he knew exactly what would happen if he stopped drinking for their trip.
I'm positive that he knew he was gonna die. That's just an odd thing to say, but I know that it's true.
I think he was feeling very alone in the world. And I think he just wanted somebody to maybe see him,
you know? It's hard to go through life and not be seen. That hurts. NARRATOR: Dr. G can't help seeing
the irony in Rusty's case. DR. G: If he'd been drinking and had his usual amount of beers
that he normally would take and the amount of alcohol he usually had in his system, he probably wouldn't had died.
He was charming. You know, he was mostly a good person that had a drinking problem.
NARRATOR: Coming up, a father attempts to wake his only son and makes a horrifying discovery.
I could see that he was, uh, dead before I ever crossed the room. DR. G: A young kid.
29. And he's dead in bed. No evidence of external trauma. NARRATOR: When "Dr. G Medical Examiner" continues.
The sudden death of a healthy young man is always troubling, all the more so when the circumstances
of the death baffle everyone involved Dr. G found herself participating in just such a case during her tenure
as medical examiner in San Antonio, Texas. It is the eve of Super Bowl Sunday, and 29-year-old Max Maxson is enjoying a well-deserved night
out on the town. He's popular, a reliable employee at the excavation company where he works with his father Harry.
HARRY: Yeah, we had-- we had a very good relationship. He was a good guy. He had a good relationship with just--
just about everybody that I knew. It was just incredible how many friends he had,
male and female. NARRATOR: A few years earlier, Max moved back in with his father, and the two began
to enjoy the bachelor life. HARRY: Yeah, we had a lot of fun. A lot of times, we'd just get-- get in his Jeep,
and we'd ride up River Road go up to Canyon Dam on the weekends, just be riding along.
We had a lot of fun. NARRATOR: But tonight, Harry is not with his son. Max is out at a nightclub on San Antonio's famed River
Walk with some friends. [CHATTER] HARRY: He had a whole slew of friends. He'd go somewhere with one one time,
and another one another time. They'd go to the nightclub and go dancing. He enjoyed doing that a lot.
NARRATOR: At around 1:00 AM, Max calls it a night. He drives home, gets into bed, and turns on the TV.
Four hours later, just after dawn, his father Harry begins his day. Like any concerned parent, the first thing he does
is check on his son. I woke up about 6:30 and-- and went and looked out the window.
His Jeep was in the driveway, so I knew he'd made it home OK. NARRATOR: But rather than wake him,
Harry figures it's better to let Max sleep off his late night. HARRY: He always slept till 1 or 2 o'clock
from when he'd come in late. So you know, I've been real quiet not to-- not to wake him up.
NARRATOR: But by 4:30 that afternoon, Max has still not stirred. His father finally decides to check on him.
HARRY: It was dark and his room. He was laying there on the bed. Looked like he was OK.
I closed the door and went to the bathroom. While I was in the bathroom, I thought that, you know,
something didn't look quite right. So I went-- I went and hollered at him a couple of times,
and I didn't get any sound. And I banged on the door pretty loud two or three times.
And finally, I opened the door and turn the light on, and-- I could see that he was, uh, dead
before I ever crossed the room. I called the police, and then I called his mother.
He said, I've got bad news. And, uh, he said, Max is dead. So I called EMS, and I told them, I said, there's no--
no need to hurry. He's-- he's been dead a long time. I walked back to the front door.
I looked out the front door and I said, this cannot be happening. EMS and police arrive on scene and confirm
Harry Maxson's assessment. One of the paramedics had come up to me and advised me that this was a DOA, a Death on Arrival.
ANITA SEAMANS: I remember standing looking down on-- on this young man, thinking, this man shouldn't be dead.
I don't know why he's dead. There's no real apparent reason for it. So it was a bit puzzling.
NARRATOR: Puzzling but for one possible lead discovered next to Max's bed, a Ziploc bag containing 2 and 1/2
tablets and a bottle of liquor. Mixing narcotics with alcohol can be a fatal combination
because they can shut down a person's central nervous system. ANITA SEAMANS: When we see pills and alcohol in close proximity
to one another in a scene such as this and the person is deceased, we have to stop and consider,
OK, did this person purposely or accidentally overdose on something? An autopsy was definitely needed in this case.
Definitely. NARRATOR: On Super Bowl Sunday, the medical examiner who gets that call is Dr. G.
DR. G: Well, my investigator goes out to the scene. He's my eyes and ears. And he tells me what he--
what he finds. He's a 29-year-old kid, good kid, but he's dead in bed. And he'd been partying the night before.
The other little red flag is he's got some pills next to his body. Hmm. A little a container of alcohol there too.
So maybe he really is partying and it's a drug overdose, which are so frequently in my morgue.
So you know, it looks it might be one of those routine drug deaths. NARRATOR: But the presumption that Max
abused drugs of any kind is one his father strongly disagrees with. He didn't want nothing to do with drugs.
NARRATOR: Coming up next, Dr. G performs the autopsy on Max Maxson and discovers that the cause of his death
is anything but routine. Such a shock, like a lightning bolt. NARRATOR: When "Dr. G Medical Examiner" continues.
Max Maxson's body is prepped for autopsy while Dr. G reviews the few facts of the case.
DR. G: A young kid. 29. And he's just dead in bed. No evidence of external trauma.
NARRATOR: Max had been out with friends at a nightclub and was discovered by his father dead in bed the next day.
HARRY: He was wearing his shorts. His knees were propped up, and he just looked like he'd, you
know, fallen asleep. NARRATOR: To Dr. G, the case looks like a fatal drug overdose, a contention that sits
uneasily with Max's father. For now, what killed Max Maxson is still an open question.
Hopefully, it won't be for long. As Dr. G conducts the external exam, she comes to the same conclusion as the investigators
on the scene. Outwardly at least, there appears to be nothing wrong with the young man.
There was nothing to note. He looked healthy. 5 foot 8, and he weighed about 150 pounds.
NARRATOR: In fact, the only notable abnormality on Max's body is the nightclub ink stamp
on the back of his right wrist. The innocuous mark is for Dr. G one more check on the list of indications for a possible drug overdose.
Statistics show that every year in the United States, over 8,000 people are rushed to the emergency room
from overdosing on drugs at nightclubs. Of those, many will result in fatalities.
And even though Max's father does not believe his son used illicit substances, Dr. G encounters this type
of scenario all too often. Yes, I hear that a lot from parents that the kid doesn't use drugs or, you know,
not a big partyer. And you know, I take that into consideration, but I've also had many a case where they're not big partyers,
but it only takes one time with some of these drugs. NARRATOR: Nevertheless, beyond the circumstantial evidence
recovered at the scene, the external exam reveals no additional indications of drug abuse,
such as needle marks. There was really no signs of drug use on the outside of his body.
But you oftentimes don't see that. NARRATOR: After completing the body chart, Dr. G begins the internal exam.
OK. Scalpel. NARRATOR: Opening Max's torso with a Y incision. But her findings here are also all negative.
There is no indication he suffered any trauma. There are no pills or drugs in his stomach.
His heart shows no signs of trouble. Yeah, that's healthy. NARRATOR: In fact, everything appears perfectly healthy.
No trauma, and nothing that was remarkable internally on his body. NARRATOR: Nothing remarkable except for his lungs.
They are filled with fluid. Look at that. You can see the fluid just pouring out of the lungs.
Heavy lungs when I open them up. You know, kind of wet, heavy lungs. NARRATOR: Although the mechanism that causes a person's lungs
to fill with fluid is not fully understood, the finding itself is a significant clue.
It means that whatever killed Max did not kill him instantly. He died slowly, perhaps over the course of several hours.
Fluid starts building up in the lungs with-- with the overdoses. They tend to be in a coma for a while and then die.
And we usually see very, very heavy lungs. NARRATOR: To check for the presence of drugs,
Dr. G draws fluids for toxicology tests. However, the results can take up to six weeks.
So you know, really thinking this is probably gonna be a drug death at that point.
But it's not over till it's over, and it's never over till you open that cranial cavity.
We're cutting the dura, the base of the brain. NARRATOR: But as she does, Dr. G discovers
another anomaly, something completely unanticipated. I look at the base of the brain,
and there's a very large concentration of subarachnoid blood overlying the base of the brain.
NARRATOR: Subarachnoid bleeding means that displaced blood has collected under the thin, translucent arachnoid membrane
that covers the brain. In other words, Max was hemorrhaging. Later, when Dr. G completes the autopsy,
she discovers the surprising cause of Max's brain bleed. Well, I'll be darned. NARRATOR: When "Dr. G Medical Examiner" continues.
To Dr. G, the death of Max Maxson appeared to be a straightforward drug-induced death--
a late night at a nightclub, pills and alcohol by the bedside, and at autopsy, heavy, fluid-filled lungs.
But then she examines his brain. Very large. There's a very large concentration of blood overlying the base of the brain.
NARRATOR: Now Dr. G must figure it out. Why was Max's brain hemorrhaging? Dr. G takes Max's brain to the dissecting table
for a closer look. She carefully cleans his brain and then begins to dissect it, searching through
the delicate and tiny blood vessels for the source of the hemorrhage. And then she sees it.
An eight-millimeter long bulge in one of his cerebral blood vessels has torn open.
Well, I'll be darned. NARRATOR: Max died from a ruptured cerebral aneurysm. We can see a distension.
We can see an aneurysm here. NARRATOR: The type of aneurysm that Dr. G discovers is known
as a saccular or berry aneurysm, because of its shape, like a berry. They often develop at the branch points of cerebral arteries.
I've seen many a berry aneurysm, and that's what they look like. NARRATOR: Cerebral aneurysms form when a blood vessel
is weakened and begins to balloon or dilate under the pressure of blood pulsing through the vessel.
Over time, the enlarging vessel can leak or even burst, resulting in a catastrophic brain hemorrhage, which
in the United States causes death or severe disability in nearly 60% of its victims.
Weighing heavily on Dr. G, however, is that ruptured cerebral aneurysms are sometimes
associated with drug use. Oftentimes, these are associated with elevated blood pressures.
And oftentimes, on a young person, they're using some type of stimulant, like a methamphetamine or cocaine,
something that would really cause their blood pressure to elevate. NARRATOR: Only the toxicology test performed on fluids drawn
from Max's body will tell Dr. G for certain if drugs played a role in his death.
But the results are not in yet. While she waits, Max's case remains open and his cause of death undecided.
Finally, two weeks later, the toxicology report is completed, and it's determined that Max Maxson
had no drugs in his system. DR. G: His blood was clean. He had no drugs on board.
NARRATOR: And further investigation determines that the pills found at his bedside
were nothing more than a common antibiotic. He had an infection, and he was taking some pills,
but that had nothing to do with the aneurysm. NARRATOR: But if drugs played no part in Max's death,
what then could have caused an otherwise healthy young man to die of a ruptured cerebral aneurysm?
Dr. G concludes that Max's berry aneurysm was likely the result of a congenital weakening within his delicate cerebral blood
vessels. It's considered to be congenital, meaning had it since birth. You may not see it at birth because it
takes time for that weakening of the wall to balloon out. NARRATOR: In other words, Max's aneurysm was a time bomb
that took 29 years to detonate. It just was, unfortunately, a very unusual, uh, natural death.
NARRATOR: With all the facts in place, Dr. G can now piece together the events of Max
Maxson's last night alive. That night, Max is out at a club in San Antonio. According to toxicological findings,
he does not take any drugs. And yet lurking at the base of his brain is his killer.
As he enjoys time with his friends, the congenital berry aneurysm deep within his brain likely
begins to leak nearly imperceptibly. He probably was having some minor bleeding.
And this was a fairly big aneurysm. It was-- it was about eight millimeters. Oftentimes, I only see them two, three millimeters.
NARRATOR: Sometime around 1:00 o'clock AM, Max drives home, gets into bed, and turns on the TV.
DR. G: Well, he probably has a headache, and that headache was probably due to some minor leakage.
And then, at some point, it ruptures. NARRATOR: Blood no longer trickles. It bursts through the weakened vessel.
The pumping blood seeps into the open spaces of Max's cranial cavity and under the protective arachnoid
membrane that covers the brain. If he wasn't asleep already, within minutes, he is most certainly unconscious.
DR. G: He probably goes unconscious very quickly. NARRATOR: Soon, Max slips into a coma.
Because he is comatose, fluid begins to fill his lungs, making it difficult for his heart to beat.
In Max's brain, the pressure of the accumulating blood eventually short circuits his brain
stem, the part of the brain responsible for signaling the heart's rhythm. The heart ceases to beat, and Max dies.
From what I hear, he had a very easy passing. HARRY: They told me later that-- that they thought that he had probably died eight or nine
hours before I found him. So he had-- he had been dead for quite a while. Sometimes I--
I feel like I can hear him, and he'll say, don't cry for me. I'm better off than anybody.
I'm in a better place. And I believe that. I think an aneurysm, when you don't know you have it and you
die from it, it's just such a shock, like a lightning bolt. I mean, you just don't expect it.
It's one of those things that, uh-- you know, life has chances. Life has-- you don't know what life has for you.
And it's one of those things, you can't do anything about it. [THEME MUSIC] MAN: Atlas.

Rusty Updike has asked his ex-wife Vesta on a cruise. The couple haven’t seen each other for 15 years but Vesta decides that a cruise with her ex might make for a nice change of pace.

A Florida medical examiner takes viewers through puzzling cases while explaining procedures and conclusions.

Brief Summary

Rusty Updike's death reveals alcohol withdrawal complications, while Max Maxson dies from a ruptured cerebral aneurysm, shocking his family.

Key points

A Vacation Turns Tragic. Vesta agrees to a cruise with her ex-husband Rusty, but finds him dead before they set sail.
The Mystery Deepens. Dr. G investigates Rusty's death, uncovering shocking truths about his health and lifestyle.
Alcohol Withdrawal's Fatal Consequence. Rusty's attempt to stay sober leads to a fatal episode of alcohol withdrawal in the bathtub.
The Night Out. Max enjoys a night out with friends, seemingly carefree and happy.
A Father's Concern. Harry checks on Max the next day, worried but hopeful.
The Shocking Discovery. Harry finds Max unresponsive in his room, leading to a tragic revelation.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

How many chances are you gonna get to go on a cruise?

Vesta reflects on the opportunity to go on a cruise with her ex-husband.

0:25WatchMay 25, 2021

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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