Woman Blames Mold For Killing Husband, Father, Family Pet

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Woman Blames Mold For Killing Husband, Father, Family Pet

POSTED: 6:12 am EDT June 23, 2005

UPDATED: 8:44 am EDT June 23, 2005

http://www.thewbalchannel.com/news/4642102/detail.html

PIKESVILLE, Md. -- A woman moved into a Baltimore County

condominium, thinking it would be her retirement home and a quiet

place to live with her husband. But soon, her family started dying

of cancer and she's suing the builder -- blaming the mold.

WBAL-TV 11 News reporter Darrielle Snipes reported ita

said it's no coincidence that her family -- and even her pet --

contracted cancer. Her condominium council conducted tests showing

mold was in several units due to defective construction.

Video

Darrielle Snipes Reports: Did Home Cause Cancer In Family?

said she had to move out before she died like her husband,

her father, and her dog. She said water would come into through the

wall and into the family room.

But the water, which she said caused mold, did more than destroy

's retirement home located inside the Gray Rocks Flats

Condominium in Pikesville. She said it also caused cancer.

ita moved in with her husband, , in 1996. She didn't know

mold was growing inside her home for many years.

" Our dog started showing signs first and actually treated him for

lymphoma, " said.

Snipes reported that Mr. Jiggs had to be put down in May 2001. In

the fall of that year, ita found out she had carcinoid cancer,

which attacked her bowel and spread to her liver. Then on New Year's

Eve, doctors told her husband he had colon cancer.

Bill Stolins, ita's father, became so ill he couldn't attend his

son-in-law's funeral. He was battling the same cancer as his

daughter and doctors determined it wasn't genetic. ita's

attorney said it's the mold that caused all of them to get sick.

" I am so angry at the fact someone would build a place that was not

a safe place for people to live in that would shorten my time with

someone special with me, " said.

ita's filed a lawsuit against the builder -- Rocky Gorge

Communities. She wants them to take responsibility.

Now, she's left to battle an illness without a father she loved so

much and without a man she called her rock. ita's cancer is now

dormant and she hasn't lived inside her home for three years.

Snipes attempted to contact the builder at the center of the

lawsuit, but neither the company nor its lawyers returned our call.

She reported that Rocky Gorge Communities settled a multimillion

dollar lawsuit with the condominium council -- who claimed defective

construction -- and other residents who were also diagnosed with

cancer.