An investigative report found the Whatcom County Medical Examiner’s Office failed to properly store the remains of two people during a weekend in May, leading to the formal removal of ME Allison Hunt and a search for her replacement.
The 24-page report, published on Aug. 5 by Bundy Law Group, a Bellingham law firm, confirms the bodies were badly decomposed in a garage at the county morgue’s temporary location at Moles Farewell Tributes & Crematory Center – Bayview Chapel between May 10 and 13.
The investigation was launched by Whatcom County and a state agency after CDN reported allegations that at least half a dozen human remains were improperly stored on behalf of the ME’s office. The report concluded two bodies were handled improperly and that it was likely a one-time occurrence.
“I find that as of Monday, May 13th, the Medical Examiner’s office knew that the bodies of [Decedent 1] and [Decedent 2] had been improperly stored in the garage over the weekend of May 10th and had become decomposed, and that, regardless of whose fault that was, they failed to inform Gillies and Jerns [funeral homes] that they would be picking up decomposed bodies that had reached that state because of improper storage,” Kristofer Bundy, the investigator, concluded.
In dozens of interviews with employees from the medical examiner’s office and Moles, the independent probe detailed serious communication failures: the medical examiner’s office kept no records showing where bodies were stored and failed to alert the county that more storage space was needed. The lack of records “led to frustration on many occasions from funeral homes.”
The explanations for the weekend errors by Deborah Hollis, the ME’s Chief Investigator and Operations Manager, to Bundy were found to be inconsistent and not credible.
“Ms. Hollis says that she didn’t want to throw anyone under the bus until they figured out what had happened,” according to the report. “Yet, I find that the evidence shows that she knew what happened: the two bodies were left out with the hope they would make it through the weekend. It got hot and the bodies decomposed.”
In a statement Monday, county officials said they will continue to work with Hunt and other partners across Northwest Washington for medical examiner needs. The process to find a new ME could take several months, according to public affairs and strategy manager Jed Holmes.
The job opening was listed on Monday with a $330,000 annual salary.
Holmes said Thursday that keeping Hunt on would ensure a smooth transition and continuity of services. No decisions have been made on when the transition will happen.
“It’s important to note that Dr. Hunt, as the forensic pathologist who performed autopsies for homicide cases, will continue to be a partner with Whatcom County if and when these cases go to trial,” Holmes said.
Hunt’s attorney, Nolan Davidson, said Thursday there would be no immediate comment about her termination or what’s occurred since May.
The county declined to respond to questions about other ME staffers named in the investigation being retained in their positions. Four additional ME employee jobs have been listed this week.
The ME’s office is a contracted position with Whatcom County. Prior to the investigation, the county was in the process of integrating the ME’s office but the move was paused. Hunt’s contract, listed under the business name Hunt Forensics, expires at the end of 2024.
Hunt took over after the former ME, Gary Goldfogel, retired at the end of 2021.
“I appreciate and value Dr. Hunt’s service to the County. She took on this role in the midst of the pandemic and during a period of an unprecedented number of homicides and overdoses,” County Executive Satpal Sidhu said in a statement. “Preparing the Medical Examiner’s Office for accreditation has been very difficult work, and I deeply respect what she has accomplished here since 2021.”
The report also referenced additional concerns about disagreements and conflict between the ME’s office, county government and law enforcement. Holmes told CDN jurisdictional issues were at the root of the problem.
“The County was served by the same medical examiner for many, many years, and expectations had formed around roles and responsibilities,” he wrote, noting Hunt took jurisdiction over more death scene investigations than her predecessor. “This represented a departure from past practices and caused some tension in relationships with law enforcement and support officers.”
Prior to June, Moles Farewell Tributes & Crematory Center was acting as the temporary morgue space as the permanent morgue goes through a renovation at its North State Street location.
As the county investigation and an investigation by the state Department of Licensing was launched, Moles ended its contract with Hunt Forensics.
In a statement to CDN, owner John Moles said, “We agree with the county investigation that did not find Moles Farewell Tributes was at fault and appreciate the proper steps Whatcom County has taken to protect families from such an occurrence in the future.”
Report lays out failures that weekend
In the report, Bundy could not conclude if Hunt knew about, or knew why, the two bodies were improperly stored over the weekend because of insufficient evidence. He wrote that since she worked closely with Hollis, “it seems like this is something she may have known about.”
Bundy found the ME’s office knew by Monday morning about the failure to properly store the remains and that the office failed to inform Gillies and Jerns funeral homes about the conditions of the bodies they would be receiving.
Additionally, it was determined the ME’s office failed to keep proper records of where one of the bodies was stored after the autopsy, and why it was removed from cool storage between May 8 and May 10 and placed in the garage.
The report does not verify if the ME’s office communicated clearly to the county that a refrigerated truck was needed on May 10.
The report states Hollis told Bundy she called the Whatcom County Executive’s Office around 3:30 p.m. on Friday, May 10 to ask if it was possible to get a storage truck. But Office Administrator Tawni Helms said she believed the call came an hour later and that Hollis spoke about needing storage for a body that couldn’t be transported. Helms responded, “Well, you need to sort this out and take care of it” and ended the call with the belief the ME’s office would figure the storage issue out.
By Monday, Julia North, an autopsy technician at the ME’s Office, discovered the decomposing remains in the garage at Moles without any kind of cool storage. They were covered with shrouds, the report stated, and fans were running.
“She said that she could tell they were decomposed, which made her extremely upset,” according to the report. “Ms. North said there were no empty ice bags on the bodies and there was no water on the floor. She said that she would have ‘for sure’ noticed bags and water if they were there.”
That contradicts what Hollis allegedly told the owner of Jerns Funeral Home, Jake Waggoner.
He described Hollis as “frazzled” when he called to complain after he’d received one of the badly decomposed bodies on May 15. Hollis told him that the ME’s office had run out of cooler space over the weekend, and that they had used ice bags from 7-Eleven to keep one of the bodies cool during the weekend, according to the report.
Bundy found that the conversation between Hollis and Waggoner about ice bags on the bodies was not credible.
State investigation ongoing
The state DOL is continuing to investigate Moles for its involvement in the incident after two complaints were filed in May. The investigation report was sent to the case manager, who’s a member of the Funeral and Cemetery Board. That person will make a recommendation on the next steps, said Christine Anthony, the digital communications manager at DOL.
Whatcom County Council member Ben Elenbaas also contacted DOL in early June after receiving complaints from concerned constituents. He told CDN on Monday that the county executive’s office was working in “the right direction” by terminating Hunt’s contract.
“Dr. Hunt is a really good doctor,” Elenbaas said. “A lot of the complaints that I had received was more around the ability for her to manage the office, and from what I read, it appears that she wasn’t willing to make any changes in that area.”
Former Medical Examiner Gary Goldfogel, who led the Whatcom County ME office for more than 30 years before his retirement, said on Wednesday he had been “meticulous about knowing where every body was at any moment in time.”
Previously, Hunt drew the ire of Goldfogel when in 2023 she criticized how he ran the office, including saying the office was “terribly understaffed and terribly underfunded” when she took over.
At the time, Goldfogel said the allegations were misunderstandings or “intentional misrepresentations.”
Now, Goldfogel feels that what transpired in May and what was revealed in the report stood in contrast to what Hunt said earlier.
“I do believe that what’s happened has vindicated my 33-plus years of operation,” he said. “Her policies and procedures ultimately wound up allowing this sort of disaster to occur.”
The story was updated on Thursday, Aug. 8 at 6:05 p.m. with additional comments from county sources and the former medical examiner.
Annie Todd is CDN’s criminal justice/enterprise reporter; reach her at annietodd@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 130.
