The Thurston County Coroner's Office investigates sudden, violent, unexpected, and suspicious deaths that occur in Thurston County. Deputy Coroners are medicolegal death investigators and respond to death scenes at any hour and anywhere within the boundaries of Thurston County. The Coroner's Office determines cause and manner of death after a complete investigation and postmortem examination, if required. In addition, the Coroner's Office provides cause and manner of death for the death certificate. Complete findings of the death investigation are distributed to families and law enforcement agencies as appropriate.

The main duties of the Coroner's Office are to determine the cause and manner of death. The cause of death is the disease process or injury that resulted in death. There are thousands of diseases and injuries that may result in death. The manner of death is a classification in which a determination is made regarding whether the death resulted from natural causes, homicide, suicide, or accident. On occasion, the manner of death is classified as undetermined.

Information collected during the investigation helps clarify the circumstances, such as the sequence of events prior to death. Evidence collected during an investigation and/or postmortem examination may help lead to the arrest or successful conviction of a suspect in a homicide case. Because deaths occur around the clock, Deputy Coroner Investigators are available 24 hours a day, 365 days per year.

With the skill and experience of the medicolegal death investigators and board-certified forensic pathologists, the quality of death investigations in Thurston County are among the best in the State. The death scene investigation reports by the Deputy Coroners are very thorough and supply comprehensive information to the pathologists.

Our Coroner and Deputy Coroners also extend their duties to the living by answering questions and addressing concerns regarding deaths within the county. Deputy Coroners are frequently in contact with family members of a deceased and assist them by providing appropriate answers regarding the circumstances of the death and directing next steps in making final arrangements for their loved one.

We extend our sincere gratitude to the Thurston County Board of Commissioners for their support of the Coroner's Office and the services we provide to the citizens of Thurston County.

Elected Coroner

Gary Warnock

Lead Deputy Coroner/ Investigator

Traci McCullah

 

Coroner Deputies/ Investigators

Karen Peek

Kristina Vilsack

Don Seese

Charlotte Mitchell

Meagan Heiden