-Process MapBasic Steps in Medicolegal Death Investigation

The attached Process Map was prepared by the SWGMDI for the following reasons:

1) To give the public and other interested parties a better understanding of the basic steps 

involved in a medicolegal death investigation;

2) To provide a visual understanding of critical steps in medicolegal death investigation 

around which SWGMDI projects, reports, and recommendations may be developed. 

The Process Map is not meant to be an all-inclusive summary of every procedure that may be 

required in death investigations, especially complicated ones. Rather, it is a generic summary of 

steps that are typically involved in day-to-day death investigation practice. 

Included below are:

a) The Process Map (first page)

b) Available standards and recommendations which are applicable to various steps 

indicated in the Process Map (second page)

This document did not go through a public review and comment period as it is simply a working

document without recommendations. It was approved by the SWGMDI Board of Directors on 

December 12, 2013. At that time, the SWGMDI Board of Directors included:

Barbara Butcher, MPH

Steve Clark, PhD

Laura Crandall, MA

Tim Davidson, MBA-HA

John Fudenberg

Roberta Geiselhart, BSN

Randy Hanzlick, MD

Marie Herrmann, MD

Julie Howe, MBA

Bruce Hyma, MD

Donald Jason, MD JD

David (Zeb) Johnson

R. Gibson Parrish, MD

Keith Pinckard, MD PhD

Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran, MD

Mary Ann Sens, MD PhD

Lindsey Thomas, MD

Frederick Upchurch

Margaret Warner, PhD (Advisory)

Amy Wyman 

See the SWGMDI website at www.swgmdi.org for Board Member affiliations. 
Death reported 

to Medical 

Examiner or 

Coroner

Is scene visit 

needed?

Accept 

jurisdiction?

Bring body to 

morgue for 

exam?

Sign death 

certificate [4]

Yes Visit scene(s)

No

Release body 

from scene?

Bring body to 

morgue for 

storage only

Perform 

postmortem 

examination [1]

Yes

No

No

Complete 

relevant 

reports

Body to funeral 

home

Yes

Basic Steps for Medicolegal Death Investigation and Applicable SWGMDI Standards 

DRAFT version 10.3: 12 December 2013

No

Legend

Action

Decision

Body claimed?

Yes

Publicly funded 

disposition 

No

Notify next of 

kin of findings 

[3]

Collect & safeguard 

evidence, specimens 

& property [2]

Investigation 

completed and 

closed

Hold body & obtain 

information for 

identification [6]

Body 

identified?

No

Yes

Initiate 

identification 

procedures; 

preserve property 

& evidence; notify 

NOK; and obtain 

records and 

specimens from 

hospital or 

agencies

Yes

Testify in court, 

as required

Report case 

information to 

appropriate 

agencies [5] 
Notes for diagram:

1. The type and extent of postmortem examination will depend on the circumstances 

and apparent cause and manner of death. Postmortem exam can include external 

examination; chemical, toxicological, microbiological, and other laboratory tests; 

radiological examination; and partial or full autopsy, including pathological 

examination of tissues removed during postmortem exam.

2. Depending on the situation and investigation, additional actions might include 

submitting specimens to appropriate laboratories for analysis, archiving specimens 

for possible future use (e.g., facilitate identification, conduct research), disposing of 

specimens when no longer needed, returning property to family, and sending 

property to police.

3. This would typically include notifying next of kin of final cause of death and other 

relevant findings.

4. In some cases, signing the death certificate requires that a pending certificate be 

completed and filed and then amended (updated) at a later time.

5. This includes notifying government agencies and officials, as appropriate, of the 

cause of death and other relevant findings from the investigation. Examples include 

reports to child fatality reviews conducted by the State, consumer product-related 

deaths to Consumer Product Safety Commission, and occupational fatalities to 

OSHA.

6. In some cases a body cannot be identified even after exhaustive investigation. In 

such cases and given that there is limited body storage space in morgues, an 

unidentified body may need to be disposed of. In these causes, adequate 

information and specimens (e.g., photographs, dental radiographs, DNA samples) 

should be taken and stored for possible future efforts to identify the decedent. Prior 

to burial, the results of DNA analysis should be completed and useable (i.e., a 

profile was developed). Disposal of the body should be through burial, rather than 

cremation, should the body ever require exhumation for further examination. 

SWGMDI

Step in Death Investigation Document

NK-2

AUT-3

-

PRC-12

PRC-4; NK-2

DSI-y

AUT-3

AUT-3

DSI-x

-

Notify next of kin of findings

Perform external exam

Conduct autopsy

Perform autopsy?

Bring body to morgue for exam?

Obtain records and specimens from hospital or agencies

Accept jurisdiction?

Visit scene(s)

Is scene visit needed?

Death reported to Medical Examiner or Coroner

SWGMDI Guidelines and Standards applicable to steps in medico legal death 

investigation