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Cause of death at Phoenix airport remains unclear

An autopsy conducted on a woman who died after being handcuffed and detained at the Phoenix airport was inconclusive, and toxicology results that are needed to determine a cause of death will not be available for a few weeks, a county medical examiner said.

Authorities have said Carol Anne Gotbaum, who was handcuffed and shackled to a bench, may have accidentally strangled herself on Friday. David Boyer, the acting director of the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office, would not comment on Tuesday's examination reports or the strangulation theory.

Gotbaum was arrested for disorderly conduct after she was kept off a flight.

Gotbaum's family accuses police of manhandling her. They hired an attorney to monitor the police investigation into her death. A private investigator watched the official autopsy and a pathologist started a second autopsy on Tuesday night.

Gotbaum, 45, was on her way to an alcohol treatment program when police stopped her. Authorities said she was late for a flight and became angry when the gate crew would not let her on the plane.

Officers handcuffed Gotbaum behind her back, shackled her to a bench and left her alone in a detention room. Police said she was later found unconscious and not breathing with the chain from the shackle pulled against the front of her neck. It appeared that Gotbaum got tangled as she tried to manipulate the handcuffs from behind her to the front, police said.

Michael Manning, who was hired by the family to monitor the police investigation, said the private investigator who watched Tuesday's autopsy said numerous bruises were scattered across Gotbaum's body.

"The body shows signs of a struggle," Manning said. "There are ligature marks, and some of those ligature marks match the chain that they used to chain her to the bench."

Police spokesman Sergeant Andy Hill said officers followed established policy while detaining Gotbaum.
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