PHOENIX -- A New York woman who died after being detained at the Phoenix airport told her husband before her arrest that she was deeply upset that she had missed a flight on her way to an alcohol treatment center, an attorney for her family said Wednesday.

Carol Ann Gotbaum, who was headed to a Tucson treatment center Friday when she was arrested for disorderly conduct after she was kept off a connecting flight, had several phone calls with her husband during a two-hour layover at Sky Harbor International Airport.

The first call reflected her eagerness and optimism in trying to put her alcoholism behind her. The tone of her last call was more desperate, said family attorney Michael Manning.

"She was very upset -- crying, screaming because she couldn't get on the plane," Manning said. "She wanted get to rehab as soon as possible."

Authorities said Gotbaum, who was traveling alone, was late for a flight and became angry when a gate crew wouldn't let her on the plane. She also threw her PDA in the airport terminal, just missing a person, police said.

Officers handcuffed Gotbaum behind her back, shackled her to a bench and left her alone in a holding room. Police said she was later found unconscious and not breathing with the chain from the shackle pulled against the front of her neck.

Gotbaum is the stepdaughter-in-law of New York's public advocate.

Authorities are investigating the death. The Phoenix Police Department's Professional Standards Bureau also is conducting an internal investigation, a standard procedure following an in-custody death.

An autopsy conducted by authorities was inconclusive. Toxicology results will not be available for a few weeks. A second autopsy performed by a pathologist hired by the family also was conducted Tuesday. A report is expected in three weeks.

Detective Stacie Derge, a spokeswoman for the Phoenix Police Department, declined to comment on the case Wednesday afternoon.

Officers Tried Soothing Gotbaum, Say Police

But a statement released by police Wednesday night said officers tried unsuccessfully to calm Gotbaum, describing her as loud and uncooperative.

The statement said police didn't believe Gotbaum was a threat to herself and didn't know she was on her way to a treatment center.

Investigators said they have determined that Gotbaum was alone in the holding room for six to eight minutes.

When she stopped yelling and screaming, officers said they went to check on her.

Officers tried to resuscitate her by performing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and CPR, did all they could to save her and were saddened by the death, the statement said.

Police said they have compiled 15 witness and five officer statements in connection with the case.

Lawyer: Woman Sober Upon Phoenix Arrival

Manning said Gotbaum was sober when she arrived in Arizona and that he was trying to determine whether she had consumed alcohol at the Phoenix airport or whether she had taken any medication.

She didn't suffer from psychological problems, other than the effects of alcoholism. She had been brought to a medical center a year ago for alcohol problems, Manning said.

After getting a boarding pass for the flight to Tucson, Gotbaum ate lunch in the airport during her layover, only to discover later that the flight was overbooked and that she no longer had a seat on the plane, Manning said.

"She had a terrific sense of urgency," Manning said. "She was fully committed to this sense of getting well."

Family friends were supposed to meet Gotbaum at the airport to lend support, but were late and didn't arrive until after she had died, Manning said.