A Coroner Office: "I See Dead People"

DAY IN THE LIFE

Pizza delivery guy: college drunks, football fanatics, and endless toppings.

Stock broker: money, lots of coke, wild parties... (source: Wolf on Wall Street)

However, over at the county corner's office you get the don't-want-to-imagine-ables.

This Washington coroner's office is located next to a juvenile detention center. Before then it was crammed in an old Pizza Hut shop. I thumbed through giant old record books, the only documentation of deaths in the county before computers came along. I spoke with the staff in a room no different than any break room. But soon I was led into the autopsy room.

The Scene:

1. It looked right out of CSI:Miami. Everything silver or white with bright overhead lighting.

2. Bleach. Bleach. Bleach. Just smacks you in the nose. Better than the alternative.

3. Autopsy table, two large refrigerators, emergency shower, family viewing area, and a smaller fridge.

Expenses:

1. Their new autopsy table costs about $10K. It includes a ventilation system that sucks away the air around the body to keep fumes from leaving the room or overwhelming pathologists.

2. The county uses the coroner system which means our county coroner is elected and can have a background completely unrelated to forensic science. When a death occurs, our coroner calls in a certified forensic pathologist.

The Refrigerators:

1. He almost walked me into the wrong one with a person who had died over the weekend. Not cool.

2. The other refrigerator had a gurney covered in boxes. Boxes of the cremated and unclaimed remains of people who had died in the last three years. After three years the remains are buried in a designated area in a local cemetery. If a relative shows up years later the county can pay to have the grave excavated to reconnect the family members.

3. The smaller fridge holds blood samples of every body. A lot of the toxicology reports in the area come back positive for meth. If a body is involved in a homicide they keep an extra vile just in case for police/prosecution purposes.

Autopsy:

1. Each autopsy can take a couple hours. The more gun shot wounds the longer the process.

2. They do put the sticks in the wounds to then determine bullet trajectory (Too much info?)

3. They weigh every organ... I didn't care to ask more than that.

4. Eyes, skin and bone can possibly still be donated within about 24 hrs after death.

5. They record every death for that year on a whiteboard:

      -City -Vehicular or not -Homicides -Drownings -Suicides

*And as you can imagine some of the numbers change depending on a later ruling.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed dinner before reading this.

Joyfully,

Molly 

Local News: What You're Not Told

"The news is so depressing."

C'mon we have all heard it, maybe even said it.

But if only you heard ALL of what goes on in your town...depressing might not do it justice. It definitely doesn't do it justice in Yakima,Washington.

Once a week I check police reports at the county courthouse. I walk into the county prosecutor's office where there is a stack of affidavits waiting. The reports from around the county only include incidents from last night.

Side Note: Yakima has one of the highest crime rates per capita in the entire country.

-Gang on gang fights. Shots fired. Windows shattered. Stolen cars. Tires slashed. Assaults. Arrests.
-Men patrolling a drug farm with guns. Pounds of drugs confiscated. Illegal possession of firearms. Illegal immigrants. Fake IDs. Arrests.
-Spouses dragging each other by their hair in streets. Assault with power tools.
-Teenage DUI on Meth. Police chase. Passengers throwing items at cop cars out the sunroof. Disabling a cop car. Arrests.


Some News Station Protocols:
Gang on gang fights might not be covered.
Drug busts need to be substantial
Domestic violence is a private matter

*Could be a story if you can relate the crime to a trend in recent months/year.
*If the domestic altercation involved the city mayor, flame throwers, and a bazooka.

But you can't forget about police scanners.

Common Police Scanner phrases:
1. "Attempted suicide..."
2. "Possible drug overdose..."
3.  "Report of a stolen vehicle..."

It bothers me a little bit that these reports don't faze me anymore.What's even worse is consciously  SEARCHING the affidavits for what makes this story stand out.

I guess as long as I don't lose my compassion/sympathy for people in person, my heart won't be considered a black hole, right?

Peace and blessings,


Molly

A Crime Scene: Real Life

I interviewed witnesses. Reported. Shot and cut the video.
But it's just a whole lot to take in and know what to say.

Guns. Blood. Bags over the victims' heads. Tied up. Threatened. Heroes.

It had just about every factor you hear about when it comes to crime movies..
But your heart aches more when it is real life.

I arrived in the trailer park neighborhood where the police report said the attempted robbery took place. I drove around the area looking for anyone outside their home that I could talk to. Since I wasn't given an exact home address that means I was going to have to 'door-knock.'

Door Knock: Going door-to-door-knocking to see if anyone is home.

            *Good chance they aren't home if story is in the middle of the day during the week.*
             If home there are usually four options:
            1. They didn't see or hear anything.
            2. They don't want to talk to the media
            3. They know and saw everything, but then say they don't want to go on camera.
            4. They know and saw everything, and you kindly find away to get something/someone on camera. (because pigs will fly when someone is jumping to be interviewed on camera.)

Luckily, the first man I spoke to was able to tell me what home the attempted robbery happened at. It was a few houses down, but nobody was home.

I saw in the police report that one of the victims fled to a neighbor's home. I looked around the victim's property and saw a blood trail. The drops of blood led down a driveway and up the doorsteps to another home.

The neighbor was willing to talk and soon after other neighbors started to come out and tell their story of what they heard or saw.

I was filming when the victims of the crime were arriving home from the hospital. They were in such good spirits after such a traumatic event. The woman's face was badly beaten and part of me just wanted to take her back to the hospital. She spoke to me as blood continued down her face (not on camera.)

Something horrible happened to this couple, but to see them in such positive spirits was very uplifting. Seeing a neighborhood that responded so quickly gave me hope.

It's not what happens to you, but how you respond right?

Midwest to California to Washington: New Beginning

East Lansing: Leaving East Lansing, Michigan after 4.5 years was tougher than I anticipated. You brush off good-byes as "see you later," but walking away you wonder how long 'later' actually means. What if that that really was the last time you see them. What I do know is I'll cherish the memories I do have with teammates, coaches, student-athletes, professors, internship friends, fellow journos, families and some other wonderful Spartan supporters. 

Roadtrip: Packing my entire life into a rinky-dink Honda Civic. A guy tried to scam me out of my apartment lease (not cool). Drove East Lansing, MI to Omaha, Nebraska. Next day I drove to Boulder, Colorado and toured campus with a high school friend. The next morning I drove to Denver, CO and had breakfast with another friend I have known since grade school. Drove about 13 hours to Las Vegas, Nevada. Spent two days in Vegas with friends from high school. Checked out the Hakkasan nightclub, Wet Republic pool, some casinos and ran 16+ miles in the morning. Drove home to San Diego through the desert with a broken air conditioning system.

Home: So nice to see family and longtime friends for longer than a weekend. Met my brother's girlfriend for the first time. Got injured training for my marathon after my 18 mile run. Returned to my pre-training weight with the help of the best Mexican food, being unemployed, injured and not having to train for anything for the first time in my life. Sat on the couch applied for tv reporting jobs here and there, ate, slept, beach, and bugged my friends to hang out when they got off work.

Field Hockey: Ending up coaching field hockey with the club team I played for growing up. High-energy people, great attitudes, and lots of hockey fun.

Job: Interviewed with the station on Skype. Interviewed again weeks later and also took a few tests. Interviewed with the co-news director at the sister station. Talked about my references who were later interviewed. Accepted a job offer while at my family friend's house.

Move: Family went on hyper-drive mode looking for apartments, moving company, new furniture, etc. Drove from San Diego to Redding, California with the parents. Next morning drove through the mountains to Portland, Oregon. We ate at the famous Palmer House for an early dinner *mushroom soup*. We eventually drove along the Columbia Gorge before crossing over into Washington.

Moving In: Dad had to fly to New York shortly after we got to Washington. The apartment was beautiful. but smelled awful. After we spent money on candles, sprays, powders and whatever else, we found the source of the problem. There was spoiled meat that fell behind the fridge sitting there for who knows how long. Mom and I had to stay in a hotel for a few days because the movers hadn't arrived with everything. We toured the city, had Mexican food and shopped for essentials. Soon it was time to say good bye and get going.