Making Words Work for You
For a brief time, I worked as a death investigator in two different states. These blogs are about experiences I had as a death investigator. Fair warning! I’m a fiction writer. Some of the “memories” I write about may be fictionalized for entertainment purposes.
***Continued from May 31, 2019*** ***Content warning: This blog post discusses a child death that I investigated several years ago. To continue reading, scroll down.*** via GIPHY Concerned my daughter had a serious head injury and plagued by images of the nine-year-old girl who died from a brain bleed, I picked up …
Content Warning: This blog post discusses the death of a child. To continue reading, scroll down. via GIPHY I arrived at the residence sometime after 11:00 a.m. The decedent was a nine-year-old girl. She was on the floor of the living room. Her mother was at her side, crying. The day before, …
John Oliver sums up the difference between a medical examiner and a coroner beautifully in this episode of Last Week Tonight! And he’s much more entertaining than I am. Check out this clip! Thanks for shopping Snark, Sass, & Sarcasm! I’ll see you next time.
“I think I’m going to put in for a search warrant. What do you think?” The detective asked. “The search warrant is your call, but—” I looked around the apartment. There were streaks of blood on the carpeting that looked like drag marks. Blood was smeared on several of the walls as well. The decedent …
It was the middle of summer. A bright, sunny day. The victim was found in her backyard. She was lying on a plastic chaise chair, wearing a swimsuit. Next to the chair was a free-standing fan that was plugged into an extension cord. The victim’s hand was resting on top of the fan. There were …
It was a normal night at the morgue. In case you might inquire, “normal,” meant I was sitting at my desk, sending out subpoenas for medical records, interviewing family members over the phone, and talking to hospitals. Hospitals — as part of their policies — called us a lot to report deaths, even if they …
“I’ve been seeing all these reports on the news about H1N1 and that it can cause deaths and I have some concerns,” the caller said. “Okay.” This conversation took place sometime in 2009. I already knew this wasn’t a death report. What I didn’t know was where this phone call was going. Just in case …
“Medical Examiner’s office.” It was early on a weekend morning at the morgue. “Yes,” a woman said. “Yes, I need you to come. I need someone to come.” “Okay. What’s going on?” “My husband is dead and I need you to come get him.” via GIPHY “I’m so sorry. Where is your husband?” …
This is a continuation of last week’s blog – Postmortem Identification. You’re always welcome to read it but if you don’t have time, I’ll sum up last week’s discussion. Ran all over the city collecting medical/dental records Interrogated by a dentist and his receptionist Made it to my final destination to collect records at a …
Two years after I began working as a death investigator, I transferred to a different office in another state. While I wasn’t new to the job, my supervisors were keeping a close eye on me. via GIPHY As I’ve mentioned before, every office works differently. At my first job, the pathologists conducted scene investigations …
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