Premature cremation leaves questions into boy's death
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MONROE, Wash. -- Police want answers into the mysterious death of a 7-year-old boy, but the clues his remains might have provided are gone forever.
Despite pleas for an autopsy, police say the Snohomish County medical examiner never followed through.
Investigators said they told the medical examiner's office time and again that the boy's family had mistreated him and his brother in the past. They suspect the boy may have died from an aspirin overdose.
But the boy, who died in January, was cremated before an autopsy could be completed.
According to a police search warrant, the medical examiner's office said his death was of "low suspicion" for abuse or neglect because the child had a history of seizures.
But 11 days later, a toxicology report revealed a large amount of an aspirin compound system - nearly three times the lethal limit - in the boy's system.
The finding sounded the alarm for Monroe police, who wanted an autopsy. But the medical examiner's office never ordered that autopsy, and the important toxicology results came in six days after the boy was cremated.
Autopsy results could have been key, police said, given the boy's family history. In 2010, the boy's father was found guilty of reckless endangerment for a lengthy pattern of deplorable conditions in the home. Police found mold and feces at the home, and open wounds on one of the boys. Investigators were stunned.
"It's something that they had never seen," said Monroe police spokesperson Debbie Willis.
According to the Department of Social and Health Services, the family cleaned up its act, the boys returned home and the case was closed in February 2011.
While police continued to request an autopsy from the medical examiner, DSHS said a case worker also raised concerns, encouraging the family to allow an autopsy. But the family went forward with the cremation.
Now, with the boy's remains gone, police may never know what really happened.
"We knew the past history. We tried to relay that to them (at the medical examiner's office) on three separate occasions," said Willis. "Without the actual body, it's difficult. That's a key piece in this case."
The medical examiner's office has had lapses in the past. In 2010, a Problem Solvers investigation exposed allegations of mangled bodies at the morgue.
The office refused to comment on the latest case, stating its own investigation into the incident is not yet complete.
Despite pleas for an autopsy, police say the Snohomish County medical examiner never followed through.
Investigators said they told the medical examiner's office time and again that the boy's family had mistreated him and his brother in the past. They suspect the boy may have died from an aspirin overdose.
But the boy, who died in January, was cremated before an autopsy could be completed.
According to a police search warrant, the medical examiner's office said his death was of "low suspicion" for abuse or neglect because the child had a history of seizures.
But 11 days later, a toxicology report revealed a large amount of an aspirin compound system - nearly three times the lethal limit - in the boy's system.
The finding sounded the alarm for Monroe police, who wanted an autopsy. But the medical examiner's office never ordered that autopsy, and the important toxicology results came in six days after the boy was cremated.
Autopsy results could have been key, police said, given the boy's family history. In 2010, the boy's father was found guilty of reckless endangerment for a lengthy pattern of deplorable conditions in the home. Police found mold and feces at the home, and open wounds on one of the boys. Investigators were stunned.
"It's something that they had never seen," said Monroe police spokesperson Debbie Willis.
According to the Department of Social and Health Services, the family cleaned up its act, the boys returned home and the case was closed in February 2011.
While police continued to request an autopsy from the medical examiner, DSHS said a case worker also raised concerns, encouraging the family to allow an autopsy. But the family went forward with the cremation.
Now, with the boy's remains gone, police may never know what really happened.
"We knew the past history. We tried to relay that to them (at the medical examiner's office) on three separate occasions," said Willis. "Without the actual body, it's difficult. That's a key piece in this case."
The medical examiner's office has had lapses in the past. In 2010, a Problem Solvers investigation exposed allegations of mangled bodies at the morgue.
The office refused to comment on the latest case, stating its own investigation into the incident is not yet complete.
