The Ashtabula County Coroner’s office investigates hundreds of deaths each year, many more now caused by fatal overdoses.
Coroner Dr. Pamela Lancaster said her job is seeing all those cases to the end while educating and preparing herself and her staff for those to come.
The office gets a call most every day, Lancaster said. The team investigated 324 total deaths in 2015, the most for one year between the last six years. This year has seen 271 investigations so far — but when factoring in hospice calls, that approaches 600.
