A lawsuit filed in New York alleges that a clerical error at Mt. Sinai West hospital led to a man's death and subsequent burial in a pauper's grave, preventing his family from locating him for over a year. The suit claims that hospital staff misspelled the name of Robert Maguire, 50, on official paperwork, changing the "g" to a "q" and rendering his name as "Maquire."
Maguire, a welder, reportedly went missing in January 2025 during a layover at the Port Authority Bus Terminal while traveling to Pennsylvania. He fell ill and was admitted to Mt. Sinai West, where he died two days later. Despite carrying proper identification, the lawsuit states that the misspelling of his name resulted in him being treated as an unclaimed individual.
According to city records, Maguire was registered under the name "Maquire" and, with no next of kin identified due to the error, his body was kept in a morgue for months before being buried on Hart Island, a city-managed cemetery for unclaimed bodies, in May 2025. His family, including his sister Kathy Troutman, had been actively searching for him since he disappeared, filing missing persons reports and contacting various city agencies.
Troutman told a podcast that the family had been unable to find any record of Maguire because of the spelling mistake, which thwarted their search efforts. They learned of his death and burial just days before the anniversary of his passing. The lawsuit accuses Mt. Sinai West and the city's medical examiner's office of "pure carelessness" and negligence for failing to conduct a proper search for his next of kin.
While Mt. Sinai West stated that it has strict patient identification protocols, a spokesperson declined to comment on the pending litigation. The city's medical examiner's office indicated that a next-of-kin search was performed based on the available hospital data. No cause of death has been publicly released, as Maguire died in a hospital under what was recorded as natural causes. His family has stated that he had a history of substance abuse and had been experiencing homelessness prior to his death.