Merrilee Frey, Lake County's new Coroner held a joint press conference with the county's sheriff's and treasurer's departments to alert family members and relatives of deceased persons investigated by the coroner's office, the last opportunity to to claim personal property from those deceased individuals.  Coroner Frey says her office tried multiple times to contact relatives of each of the over 100 death victim cases and now those personal effects will be transferred to the sheriff's department to be destroyed or sold at auction, with proceeds going to the county's general fund.  A lot of small personal jewelry items, watches and wallets represent a majority of the items yet to find their rightful owners, in addition to a couple hundred dollars in cash.  Frey says a couple of rifles and handguns as well as prescription drugs and possibly illicit drugs were included in the collection but were later destroyed by sheriff's police.  Time is running out for relatives to step forward and claim the items that are rightfully proven to be theirs, but family members can still contact the Lake County Coroner's office at (219) 755-3265.

( Treasurer, John Petelas; Coroner, Merrilee Frey; Deputy Sheriff, Timothy Downs; Deputy Coroner, David Pastrick )  

( Lake County Coroner, Merrilee Frey with deceased subjects personal effects)

 ( Typical of the personal items left behind credit cards, wallets, and jewelry--in this case--Rosary beads )

                    (photos courtesy of jstevens/Radio One Communications)

( The Lake County Coroner's office, located at 2900 W 93rd Ave. Crown Point,  IN. ) 

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