Joseph W. Bell Jr. was 79 when a trip to Providence Hospital on February 9, 2005, ended in violence. Bell, a retired auditor and World War II veteran from Washington, D.C., had gone to pick up his wife after a routine checkup. While washing his hands in a restroom he was attacked; he later woke in the hospital emergency room with a head injury, a bloody lip, and his wallet missing. His back pocket had been ripped open.

Bell was discharged three days after the assault but his family observed a sharp decline in his cognitive and physical health: persistent headaches and new memory loss. He was transferred to Washington Hospital Center on April 7, 2005, and died there on April 18, 2005. The D.C. Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide due to a blow to the head.

The Metropolitan Police Department treated the case as a murder investigation and offered up to a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction. No suspects have been publicly identified and no arrests have been announced. If anyone has information about Joseph Bell’s attack at Providence Hospital, please come forward.