WFTV gets look inside ‘potentially dangerous' Volusia County morgue

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — WFTV Channel 9 reporter Mike Springer got an exclusive look Thursday inside the Volusia County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Medical Examiner Dr. Sara Zydowicz said there are a backlog of 200 cases in the facility.

Springer saw the morgue as well as the autopsy room, the two places of concern for the medical examiner because of the high caseload and lack of staff to handle it all.

Springer said the building was old and tiny, but did not appear to be falling apart from what he was allowed to see.

Inside the facility, Springer saw the room where doctors perform the autopsies.

Next, officials showed the morgue which can store up to 20 bodies. There were 15 bodies inside, including two that had yet to be identified.

Volusia County Council members Joyce Cusack and Pat Patterson told Eyewitness News that they were surprised by the allegations in the letter written by Zydowicz.

They both said they wished Zydowicz had brought her concerns to them earlier and plan to discuss the situation at the next County Council meeting.

In this year's budget the county said, "The existing medical examiner facility does not have the capacity for the current workload which includes over 600 autopsies and 900 death investigations, annually."

The county plans to build a new $1.8 facility by 2020. Those plans have been in the works since 2015.

Cox Media Group