SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif- The San Luis Obispo Sheriff's Office is moving its morgue. The new morgue becomes a one stop shop for investigators. Right now bodies are at a mortuary rented by the sheriff's office. Coroner's must drive an hour just to perform an autopsy then bring the results back for investigators to study the evidence.
They will also be able to do more autopsies at once with more tables in the new unit, allowing cases to be solved quicker. "We didn't have immediate access to the deceased to do follow-up examinations," says Detective Coroner Jeff Nichols.
For example, the case is still open on the skeletal remains found early last month near Tank Farm Road. Sheriff's coroners said this on-site morgue will give them room and better equipment and technology to search for clues to identify people and causes of death. Investigators also said they can finally get a jump on the back log of cold cases. "Some of the cold cases we'll be able to work on in the future, we will be able to spend more time on, because we will have created greater efficiency within our office," says Detective Coroner Nichols.
The new lease for this facility cost about 60-thousand dollars-, which is the same amount the sheriffs office was paying to rent the mortuary space. The new morgue is about 15-hundred square feet larger.
