Coroner's Office Botches Another Case

The Star's Richard Walton identifies yet another death case where the coroner's office failed to notify family of the deceased family member for nearly two weeks after she was found dead. Walton, in addition to recounting the coroner's office failure to notify the family of a missing man, Carl Southern, first reported by WRTV, writes about another case:

The second case involved Jessica Dale, 25, whose body was found June 27 in an Indianapolis apartment.

Her aunt, Deanna Allen Knox, said her family was not notified until about two weeks later. "We live in the world of technology . . . yet they could not find family," Knox said. "She was a human being. . . . (She deserved better than) 'Let's throw her in the morgue, and when we have time, we'll try to find her family.' "

As with Southern, Dale originally was listed as homeless, said Ballew. Police said Dale, who had an arrest record, used an alias that complicated the identification process.

Walton says in his report that "Southern's cause of death was listed as cocaine intoxication." He adds, "He had suffered a subdural hemorrhage, or bleeding of the brain, according to the coroner's office." Walton doesn't include facts Rinehart reported, leading Indianapolis police to conclude foul play was likely involved in Southern's death. According to Rinehart, Southern had last been seen in June being led out of Lugar Towers at gun point. A few days after his body was found in an alley on the south side, his nephew was murdered. Police say the coroner's cremation of Southern's body may complicate any subsequent murder prosecution according to Rinehart's report.