Firefighter Steals Severed Foot From Crash Scene

ST. LUCIE COUNTY — Cindy Economou, last years county firefighter of the year who runs a nonprofit horse therapy program for emotionally and mentally challenged people, is the St. Lucie County firefighter accused of taking a Melbourne mans severed foot from an Interstate 95 crash scene a week ago.

Fire District officials on Thursday called a hasty news conference to disclose a firefighter was under investigation for taking Karl Lamberts foot, but refused to identify the person, saying it was a veteran paramedic who trains cadaver dogs, which are used to follow the scent of decomposing human flesh.

On Friday, Fire District officials released a letter dated Thursday to Economou placing her on administrative leave with pay due to an internal investigation of a call to I-95 mile marker No. 118 on September 19, 2008, which you responded, and allegations of inappropriate actions have been raised against you.

Repeated attempts to reach Economou, a firefighter and paramedic since the early 1990s, were unsuccessful.

Lambert, 46, hired attorney Ray Christian, who said it was his understanding Economou wanted the foot to help in dog training. Christian said Lambert is missing a portion of his left leg from six to eight inches below the knee and that the missing portion was returned to St. Marys Medical Center in West Palm Beach five days after the crash, on Sept. 24. Lambert still is in the hospital.

The 19th through the 24th, he was not aware that somebody had absconded with his leg, Christian said.

Christian suspects law enforcement officials started asking questions because body parts typically accompany patients to the hospital.

So when they got to the hospital and he didnt have his leg, I think they started to backtrack and started looking to see what had happened, Christian said. Thats when they realized that someone had taken it.

Christian said when the Florida Highway Patrol returned the leg, it was frozen and apparently couldnt be re-attached. He said only a doctor could determine whether it could have been re-attached if it arrived with Lambert, who was traveling to Fort Lauderdale to pick up flooring material for his brother-in-law at the time.

My understanding, to be fair, is that (Economou) has not really hidden the fact that she has it, Christian said.

Fire District spokeswoman Catherine Chaney said about 17 fire district personnel, including Battalion Chief Jim Hall and Deputy Chief Michael Bailey, responded to the crash near the Tradition exit. Neither Hall nor Bailey could be reached Friday.

Chaney couldnt say whether any of these people knew Economou took the foot, citing the fire districts ongoing investigation. None of the other fire district members at the scene have been placed on administrative leave, she said.

Andy Rebmann, whos been involved in search work and K-9 police dog training since 1972 and wrote Cadaver Dog Handbook, said that in training, cadaver dogs are introduced to the scent of decomposition.

In some parts of the country, Rebmann said, the coroner can release bodily fluids or parts to qualified individuals. Some people want to donate their bodies for use in training dogs for human recovery. Donated placentas also can be used, he said.

A firefighter taking a body part for cadaver dog training or other purposes, Rebmann said, would be unusual and also unethical ... unless it was released by the proper authorities.

Economou runs Fully Involved Farms, which provides physically, emotionally and mentally challenged people an opportunity to experience horse riding at no cost to them.