Foster Mother’s Death Still Mystery After Autopsy

An autopsy failed to pinpoint the cause of death of a 40-year-old accountant, whose decomposing body was found in her home with her young foster children at her side.

More microscopic and toxicological tests will be performed in upcoming weeks to determine the cause of death of Barbara Keiper, supervising deputy coroner Rick McAnally said.

Advanced decomposition also hampered efforts to determine the time of death, but McAnally said the condition of the body was consistent with initial estimates that she had been dead for three days before her body was found Wednesday.

Keiper’s worried boss at McGaw Inc. in Irvine and Orange County sheriff’s deputies found the body when they visited the house after she failed to show up for work two days in a row. Peering through the bedroom window, they also saw her two foster daughters, ages 2 and 4, in the bed.

The children were scared and hungry but snacked on food they found in the house, officials said. They were taken back to Orangewood Children’s Home, where they had stayed before Keiper took them in last year. A medical exam gave them a clean bill of health, and staff counselors were working to help the girls cope with the experience.

An effort was underway Wednesday to place the girls in another foster home as soon as possible, according to Michael Riley, director of the county’s children and family services agency.

“They’re doing OK, but after what they went through, it strikes a chord in all of us,” Riley said. “You feel sympathy and empathy for children who go through such an unfortunate experience.”