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Ben Barboza, the husband of Jacintha Saldanha, a former nurse at King Edward VII's hospital who was involved in a hoax call concerning the Duchess of Cambridge, arrives with family members at the Houses of Parliament on Dec. 10.
As investigators piece together the final moments of Jacintha Saldanha, the British nurse who died in a suspected suicide after a radio prank on her employer made headlines, new reports indicate she hanged herself — and may have been dead for a while.
Saldanha, 46, was found in her apartment Friday morning, in quarters where other nurses from King Edward VII’s Hospital in central London also reside, the London Evening Standard reported Wednesday.
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Her husband, Ben Barboza, who lives with their children in the city of Bristol, was reportedly unable to get in contact with his wife for two days. He had a friend call her apartment last Thursday — the night before she was found dead — but hadn't heard back, according to the Daily Mirror.
London authorities have yet to officially confirm how she died or tie her death to the royal family-related prank. The results of an autopsy are expected Thursday.
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An undated family photograph of Jacintha Saldanha.
“The family should be given the full facts," Keith Vaz, a member of the House of Parliament, said Tuesday. "That’s what they need at this time."
According to reports, Saldanha penned a suicide note, which might be the only scrap of evidence explaining why she would have killed herself. Her family, including her husband and two teenaged children, reportedly didn’t know she was involved in the radio stunt.
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Saldanha was the senior nurse on duty when a pair of Australian shock jocks called the hospital at 5:30 a.m. Dec. 4 posing as Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles. She patched the call to an unidentified colleague, who ended up telling the deejays about the health condition of mom-to-be Kate Middleton.
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Police stand guard outside the King Edward VII's Hospital in London on Dec. 3.
The Duchess of Cambridge had been admitted earlier for severe morning sickness. She was released the following Thursday, a day before Saldanha's lifeless body was discovered.
By then, the prank had stirred up intense controversy, and outrage developed over invasion of privacy concerns for Kate and husband Prince William.
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Saldanha’s heartbroken husband and two children visited the hospital and met with Parliament officials Monday to demand answers about her death.
Her family and friends in India told CNN that she was a devout Catholic who moved to England a decade ago to carve out a better life. She had been working at King Edward VII’s Hospital for four years.
Daniella Zalcman/for New York Daily News
The grounds of St. Teresa's in Bristol, U.K., where Jacintha Saldanha, 46, and her family went to church. She had spent much of her time working in London as a nurse.
“Jacintha was loving and caring,” the Rev. Sister Aileen Mathias told CNN.
The women trained together at the Father Muller Medical College in Mangalore in the 1980s.
“She would share her bread, coffee and sweets with the patients,” Mathias recalled.
"She was very religious. She will pray for the patients," Mathias added. "Both of us will pray together for the patients."
Saldanha never forgot the school, and she went there last year to donate money for patients who couldn’t pay for treatment, according to CNN.
The nurse was also remembered as a serious student, and enjoyed sharing laughs as well. The possibility that she would have killed herself surprised her former classmates.
“I was shocked to hear that. She was not that type who would do that,” Nathalia Martis, 46, told CNN.
“She was very good, polite, but a very bold girl,” Martis added. “She was always ready to face any kind of a situation.”
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Jacintha Saldanha's mother-in-law, Carmine Barboza, with family and friends in Udupi, India, after learning the news that Saldanha had been found dead Dec. 7.
Saldanha’s brother in Mangalore said her family wants to bury her body in India.
“Ben (Jacintha's husband) has not been allowed to see the body,” Naveen Saldanha told The Times of India. “We are also under tremendous stress of what is happening there and are worried.”
He added that their mother has not been told of his sister's death, and they are “planning to slowly break the news to her."
"We have told her Jacintha is very serious, and mother has been praying and has also asked us to pray for her good health," Naveen Saldanha said.
He also disputed previous reports that his sister may have felt ashamed for unwittingly taking part in the prank.
“We are somehow coping with the loss,” he added.
TodayTonight
Mel Greig (r.), 30, and her co-host Michael Christian, 25, insist they were devastated by the death of Jacintha Saldanha.
King Edward VII's Hospital said there were never plans to punish Saldanha, whom officials described as a "first-class nurse."
Meanwhile, Australia's communications authority is deciding whether to launch a full inquiry into the prank call.
The owners of 2Day FM in Sydney deny they broke any laws, although the hospital claims the station never spoke with them about the stunt before it was aired.
The station has since suspended the deejays, Michael Christian and Mel Greig, and canceled their show. It has also started a donation fund to help Saldanha’s family.
eortiz@nydailynews.com
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