Patient Dies Outside North Bay Area Hospital After Release

SANTA ROSA, Calif. (AP) -- A California hospital is investigating the death of a discharged patient whose body was found on hospital grounds.

Officials at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital said Monday that their investigation into 49-year-old Michael Torres' death is almost complete.

Torres' body was discovered on the hospital campus around 8 a.m. Sept. 20. The Press Democrat of Santa Rosa reports that he had been discharged about 12 hours earlier after treatment for an undisclosed condition.

Hospital officials say Torres was asked to move when, after he was discharged, he was found in part of the hospital that is closed to the public at night. But they have released few other details.

According to Torres' family, a preliminary autopsy showed he could have died of pneumonia, or swelling of the arteries and heart.