developing news in the case of a woman's body found at san francisco general hospital. a joint news conference is scheduled any moment now. whether it is 57-year-old lynne spalding, a patient that disappeared from the hospital two and a half weeks ago. thanks for joining us. i'm cheryl. >> i'm christian. let's get to katie.

has the body been identified? okay again waiting still for confirmation from the sheriff's department. we have heard from david perry a friend of the spalding family. he says that lynne's daughter did get a phone call this morning from authorities, kind of a next of kin call confirming to her they do believe the body is her 57-year-old mother. spalding was a patient here, checked in with an infection last two. month two days later she disappeared. that was 18 days ago. hospital workers found a body in a rarely used exterior stairwell on the fourth floor. we understand lynne was on

medication that made her disoriented. she was supposed to be checked on by the hospital every 15 minutes. family and friends for the last two ask a half weeks have you been desperately searching. they created a facebook page to find lynne and posted fliers around town. she was here at hospital the whole time. huge questions lingering at this hour. how is that possible? that's what lynne's family and the public wants to know. we hope the sheriff deputies investigating the case will discuss this morning. as soon as they arrive here at the podium, we'll bring you that live. >> we'll check back in moments. bart negotiations continue as the 60 dayle cool period ends tomorrow night. will there be a strike or not? that's all commute wants to know. amy is at the bargaining table. what's the move now? >> they met until 11:00 last

night, no agreement made. we did get pictures of them walking in this morning. they look ready and prepared for a long day, plenty of supplies with them. many of them saying to us, wish us luck. they've got two days left of talks before a possible strike. here's what we heard from both side this is morning. >> i tell you the union continues to move the position and we hope that management will respond in time today so we can avert a strike tomorrow night. that's what we're working for. we're committed to continuing to do that. we're hoping that the bart board of directors who have been notably absence from the negotiations and the general manager will come today and tomorrow to achieve a deal. >> the full authority to come to conclusion here, he's been doing that and working hard on it.

he's the man who's making the decision. >> reporter: here's a look at what the traffic looked like in july when bart went on strike. officials say you need to plan now for what you will do without bart trains. they're suggesting if you can, work from home or if you have a flexible job, stagger hours. we know the board of directors will be meeting in closed sessions tomorrow likely talking about what move to make before the deadline gets here. stay with abc 7 news as we continue to cover this for you. we'll let you know as soon as we know if there will be a strike friday morning. live in oakland, abc 7 news. >> thank you. behind the scenes bart is preparing for a strike including chartering 200 buses to carry riders from nine cities to and from san francisco, more double the number used in july. the san francisco ferry service

is planning to run additional boats to carry thousands of extra passengers. car pooling is also a set back. those not wanting to wait at curb can check out sites to coordinate a ride. if there is a strike, be sure to check out abc 7 news.com. we have pulled together a lot of information to help you get around including the way transit agencies are adding extra passengers on handling them. you'll find real time traffic maps and our traffic app. remember to follow us on twitter at abc 7 news bay area for updates. in the courtroom for the accused master mind behind the notorious black market for illegal drug, 29-year-old al bright is accused of running the underground website silk road. he was arrested last week in the grand park library. he waived rights today to new

york to face charges and agreed to remain in custody without bail. the website has been shut down by the fbi. authorities worldwide have started arresting suspected drug dealer who is used it. president barack obama will nominate yellen for chairman of the federal reserve within the next hour. yellen is the current vice chairman of the fed. she knows well. she served 2004-2010 in san francisco. president barack obama will make the announcement noon our time. if confirmed the 67-year-old would become the first woman to chair the federal reserve. happening now, veterans and military families are feeling the impact of the government shutdown now in the ninth day. this morning the veterans affair secretary testified before the house veterans committee and says the shutdown goes on into november, more than 5 million disabled veterans won't get

their checks. >> shutdown immediately affects vet rans. we've lost ground. 1400 veterans a day are not reefing decisions on disabout compensation claims due to the end of overtime. >> the government shutdown is also preventing military families are receiving death pen fits. the pentagon typically pays how $100,000 within three days of a sole jer's death. a castle contest is the latest victim of the government shutdown. 20 san francisco schools were expected to participate in this weekend's annual contest at ocean beach saturday. this youtube video of what's year's competition. the event organizers say officials with the gold opinion gate national recreation area notified them the long standing contest would not take place because of that shutdown. stanford university is basking in the glow of the second nobel prize awarded this

morning to a professor for his break through in chemistry. matt is live on campus with the winner. >> reporter: stanford has done it again. it's become a tradition here on campus. a professor won the nobel prize in chemistry. the applause was loud when stanford professor levitt arrived on campus. eight hours earlier, 2:15 this morni morning, signalled his life was about to change. >> they tell you that you won the prize. >> reporter: levitt is a professor in the department structural biology. he shares the prize with professors from harvard. the nobel prooiz foundation says they laid the work to predict chemical processes.

computer models mirroring real life have become crucial including in cancer research. >> it took maybe five years of pure research, 30 years of cultural funded research to get things marketed. things are going to have a big impact take a long time. >> reporter: levitt was born in south africa, met his wife in israel and spent time in england before coloneling ming to stanf. he was weight for a call from the prime minister yahoo. i feel only good things. i love him. >> reporter: levitt is stanford's 30th faculty member to win the nobel prize. the school of medicine alone has

won five in the past seven years. abc 7 news. >> thank you very much. we told you about the news conference taking play at san francisco general hospital. let's take you to the conference about the body found in the hallway. >> the police department representatives and garcia, the director of health for san francisco is here with us today. i'm going to let them speak in just a moment. i want you to know that we know there's a great interest and a lot of concern about this case that we share. every one wants answers. we want answers too. m9ñ but what we are going to giveñi you now is all the information we doxd have. we willñr not beñrçó taking que. we will have given you all the informationñi we have. moreñiçóñiçóñr information will beñr coming. we'll continue to provide that. i hope you check our website

where we have a blog on the right-hand side. that's how we continue to push information out. i want to be clear about what today is and thank you for coming. you'll be getting as much information as we have now from our two speakers. thank you. good morning i'm dr. todd may, chief medical officer at san francisco general hospital and medical center. what happened at our hospital is horrible. we are here to take care of patients, to heal them, to keep them safe. this has shaken us to our core. our staff is devastated. we don't know what happened to this woman. as chief medical officer, quality, patient care and patient safety is my top responsibility.

i am committed to getting to the root cause of this tragedy and ensure nothing like this never happens again. every since she disappeared september 21st we have been sharing information with the family and investigators and will continue to do so. now the official statements. we are saddened to announce that we believe the body found on the hospital campus yesterday morning is that of lynne ford also known as lynne spalding. she has been missing since september 21 when she left her hospital room at san francisco general hospital and medical center. while the medical examiner will make the final examination of identity, we have enough information at this time to conclude it is mrs. spalding ford. we have informed the family of this news and expressed our deep

sympathy for their loss. our hearts go out to the family and friends of miss spalding ford. her disappearance has ended in tragedy. at this time we don't know what happened. we are here to provide patient care and security to 100,000 patients and families each year. nothing like this has ever happened before. there's no precedent to. we do know that lynne ford was admitted to the hospital september 19. her condition was improving two days later. she was in fair condition when she left the hospital room shortly after being checked on by a nurse at 10:15 a.m. 15 minutes later, the nurse checked on her again and upon finding her room empty initiated a search of the hospital. when she was though the found, hospital staff notified the

family and sheriff's department on site. the sheriff searched the campus and did not find her. her body was found by an employee in an exterior stairwell yesterday at 10:00 a.m. until then she has been considered a missing person. the san francisco police department was investigating her disappearance. at this time i'll turn over the presentation to assistant sheriff of san francisco, paul vimoto. >> good morning everyone. we do not know how she came to be in the stairwell yesterday, how long she had been there or what caused her death. the stairwell is a fire exit that is not routinely used by staff, patients or the public. it is locked from the outside and exits into the hospital grounds at the bottom of the

stairwell. many miss spalding was you discovered by a routine check by an employee. the police department investigates missing persons and suspicious deaths. all of us are committed to learning what happened and ensuring it never happens again. we'll provide more information as it develops. on behalf of the sheriff and the department, we offer our condolences to the family and friends of miss spalding. >> is there any indication what she was wearing when she was found? >> let me finish the statement right now. >> the san francisco sheriff department is conducting the investigation which includes a review of internal security measures such as alarms and

searches. we will not be discussing these measures as they are part of the hospital's security structure plan. however, at the conclusion of our investigation, we expect to be able to answer many of the questions concerning this tragedy. nothing further at this time. thank you. >> can you talk about what she was wearing when she was found? you know that. >> we're not going to take any questions today. thank you all for coming. this statement will be posted on the website and recorded on the media hotline. we'll let you know when there's new information available. you're welcome to contact the sheriff. >> you've been watching a news conference held in front of san francisco general hospital where officials just confirmed the body found in the stairwell was that of lynne spalding, a patient who had been missing for over two weeks. they said this is shaken us to the core. obviously an investigation will be thorough and ongoing. >> they offered condolences to the family. we'll have much more f

. the center for disease control says the contamination involves seven strains of salmonella including some resistant to antibiotics. the chicken is from three plants

in the central valley. it sickened people in 18 states. 42% of those cases sent people to the hospital. good morning america's doctor says cooking the meat to 165 degrees will kill the germs. we need to get into that habit. >> over half of all chickens are contaminated with salmonella or other dangerous drugs. you always have to assume any chicken you buy, any brand, likely has a dangerous germ. you have to cook and handle accordingly. >> the chicken is not being recalled now because investigators have been unable to trace it to a specific lot. find information on abc 7 news.com. stanford has topped this year's list of america's best business schools. >> the forbs list looks at how well the careers pay off.

average 221,000 five years after graduating, the highest average salary of any school on the list. stanford selects only 7 percent of apply can'ts for the class of 2014. the school of business in chicago came in second followed by harvard. no other california school made the top ten.

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time for a look at the weather. feels like fall. >> indeed. >> or winter. >> take a look now. this is from our lake tahoe cam. 36 degrees in lake tahoe due to the massive cold air come bringing us one to four inches of snow in higher elevations. watch out for slippery roads. the satellite not showing returns. that moisture not going to affect us. this trough of low pressure moves to the east and misses us. rain affects mount hamilton. highs today mid to upper 60s to low 70s across much of the bay area. mostly sunshine for us. overnight temperatures cool. chilly especially north bay. here's a look at my seven-day forecast. dry but a warm up come this weekend and 80 degrees

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flight comes on to talk about how his son snuck away. find out more on abc 7 news at 5:00. the four legged officer means business. >> take a look. the mountain view police department tweeted this picture. the black lab is in front of 100 pounds of marijuana he sniffed out after officers served a warrant. the canine recovered $75,000 in cash also. >> this is a sign of the specialized enforcement team. good work. >> what do yout(< ñiñrçó expeck highñiñi godçó zues. of course he can do

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