OAK LAWN, Ill. -- Detectives are investigating whether a 71-year-old resident of an Oak Lawn nursing home died as a result of neglect.

Billy Webb, who died at Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn at 8:13 p.m. Saturday, had a history of health problems, but "there is reason to believe" neglect may have played a role in his death, Oak Lawn Police Chief Bill Villanova said.

Villanova declined to discuss why officers suspect neglect and said an autopsy performed by the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office had proved inconclusive.

"(The medical examiner) has not ruled it as a neglect or an abuse death, but we are still investigating," Villanova said.

A spokesman for the medical examiner's office said a ruling on the death was pending the police investigation.

Oak Lawn police have been unable to contact Webb's relatives. Attempts by the Daily Southtown to find his relatives also were unsuccessful.

Managers at Regal Health and Rehabilitation Center, where Webb was staying, refused to comment Monday. Administrator Chuck Kennedy said patient privacy laws prevented him from commenting.

Regal was fined $10,000 in 2004 for failing to report an allegation of sexual assault against a 95-year-old female patient by nurse's aide Henry McCuller.

The nursing home fired McCuller for threatening his accuser, but managers at the time said they believed he was not guilty of the attack.

He pleaded guilty in 2005 and was sentenced to nine years in prison.

Copyright 2007, Chicago Sun-Times Inc.