Obese corpse a problem for coroner's office
By Kristin Bender, STAFF WRITER

OAKLAND -- A day after summoning a crane to remove the body of a 700-pound
West Oakland man, Alameda County coroner's officials Thursday were trying
to figure out what to do with the corpse.

Supervising Coroner Frank Gentle said authorities have not been able to
find any family of William Lindelof, who died at a care home on West Street
about 11 p.m. Tuesday. He was 49.

Gentle said the man's parents, believed to be from Alameda, are dead, and
no relatives have been located.

Because of his size, Lindelof does not fit in a standard incinerator used
for cremation or a standard casket, Gentle said. The body remains at the
coroner's office in downtown Oakland.

"We are having trouble figuring out what to do," Gentle said.

A spokesman from the Casket Showroom in Fremont said he had never heard of
a casket that could accommodate a man that size. The company's standard
caskets are about 3 feet wide, and Lindelof was much wider.

Officials said Lindelof had been complaining of chest pain and shortness of
breath before he died Tuesday.

The cause of death has been determined to be acute and chronic congestive
heart failure due to massive obesity, Gentle said.

On Wednesday, coroner's officials used a crane to remove the man's body
from the care home. Once in the coroner's van, officials called on the
Oakland Fire Department, which brought in a cargo net and helped transport
the man into the morgue.