CHICAGO (WLS) — The family of a Chicago business owner who died in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is seeking a second, private autopsy after the circumstances of his death remains a mystery.
Nenko Gantchev, 56, died Dec. 15 at the North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin, Michigan; a private prison contracted by ICE to house immigrant detainees.
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ICE has previously said Gantchev’s death is “suspected to be from natural causes” and “the official cause of death is still under investigation.”
But to date, Gantchev’s family said no one from the federal government has answered their questions about what happened.
After filing public record requests, the ABC7 I-Team is piecing together a timeline of what happened the night Gantchev died, as well as additional emergency responses to the facility where hundreds of Chicago-area people arrested by immigration agents have been detained.
The North Lake Correctional Facility, owned by the private prison company GEO Group, is in Lake County, Michigan.
It was 9:15 p.m. on Dec. 15 when the Lake County dispatch center received its first call from an officer at the North Lake facility regarding Gantchev, according to dispatch records.
Lake County officials tell the I-Team the officer did not call 911, rather the call was received on the county’s non-emergency/administrative phone line.
“I have a detainee that is unresponsive, late 50’s male,” the North Lake officer can be heard telling the dispatcher in a recording of the call. “They’re doing chest compressions, as we speak, performing CPR.”
According to an event report for the call, EMS responded to the facility and by 10:08 p.m., a medical examiner was called out after Gantchev was pronounced deceased.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office is investigating Gantchev’s death, telling the I-Team it’s standard protocol for it to investigate all deaths in Lake County, Michigan.
A spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Office said deputies were not notified of Gantchev’s death until after his body was removed from the North Lake facility.
Family seeks answers, 2nd autopsy
Nenko Gantchev had lived in Chicago for three decades, owned a trucking business and was seeking a green card after marrying an American citizen eight years ago, his family previously told the I-Team.
In fact, it was at a Sept. 23 interview for a green card when federal agents arrested Gantchev, his wife said.
After spending a day at the Broadview ICE facility, federal arrest records show Gantchev was moved to North Lake for 82 days in custody before he died.
In the weeks leading up to his death, Gantchev’s family and friends say his health was deteriorating.
“The family hasn’t really learned much of anything,” said Anna, a family spokesperson who asked the I-Team not to use her last name out of fears of retaliation for speaking out.
According to the family’s new attorney, Brian Salvi, the law firm is in the process of obtaining a second, private autopsy of his body, but are still waiting for the results of the initial autopsy.
“We do not have the results of the initial autopsy yet and want to provide the family with validation on the findings once we receive it by performing a private autopsy as well,” Salvi told the I-Team by email.
Gantchev’s family fears that Nenko’s concerns over his health, leading up to the day he died were ignored by North Lake staff.
“There was no accommodation for his [type 2] diabetes, the fact that he needed any kind of special diet,” Anna told the I-Team on Dec. 19. “He was not feeling well, progressively.”
“[North Lake staff] told him he needed an echocardiogram, at least a month went by up to the point that he died, that he did not get that,” Anna said. “It never happened.”
In a previous statement, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security and ICE said, “At no time during detention is a detained alien denied emergency care.”
Lawmakers pressing for answers
Gantchev is one of 433 people arrested in the Chicago-area that were sent to the North Lake Facility during the first five weeks of the Trump Administration’s “Operation Midway Blitz”, according to recently released federal arrest data by the Deportation Data Project.
Lake County emergency records obtained by the I-Team show there have been two suicide attempts at the North Lake facility since November.
Lawmakers have pressed for more information about the conditions inside the North Lake facility following Gantchev’s death, including Illinois 3rd District Congresswoman Delia Ramirez (D).
“It’s incredibly important for us to understand exactly what happened to him,” Ramirez told the I-Team. “It will allow us to also prepare ourselves to ensure that we prevent another death at the hands of ICE, and at the hands of these private detention centers.”
GEO Group, ICE and the Department of Homeland Security did not respond to the I-Team’s questions. A spokesperson for GEO Group previously directed all questions surrounding Gantchev’s death to ICE.
A spokesperson for DHS and ICE previously said, “ICE is committed to ensuring that all those in custody reside in safe, secure and humane environments. Comprehensive medical care is provided from the moment individuals arrive and throughout the entirety of their stay.”
Congresswoman Ramirez and Michigan lawmakers have called for a “thorough and transparent investigation” into Gantchev’s death, including asking for preliminary findings from the death investigation by Jan. 9.
There were at least 30 deaths in ICE custody last year, the highest number in more than 20 years, the lawmakers say.
“This is not just an isolated incident,” Ramirez said. “It is a pattern we are seeing of inhumane conditions.”
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