News Photo by Mike Gonzalez An empty urn sits on a worker’s desk on Wednesday at Karpus Hunter and Ross Funeral Home on Chisholm Street. The 2023 Mid Michigan Medical Examiner Group report recorded four times more unclaimed bodies in Alpena County than in 2022, a number that an official called unusually high.

ALPENA — The Mid Michigan Medical Examiner Group handled an unusual number of unclaimed bodies in Alpena County last year, an official said Wednesday.

The group handled four bodies last year that went unclaimed by next of kin, according to the medical examiner’s 2023 annual report. In 2022, the group reported one unclaimed body.

The group hasn’t seen that many unclaimed bodies since 2020, the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, said Lisa Kaspriak, administrator assistant of the Mid Michigan Medical Examiner Group.

“With the help of law enforcement, we try to track down the next of kin and notify them of the person’s death,” Kaspriak said. “Some never respond, or, if they do, family members who are estranged may say that they haven’t spoken to the person in 20 years and don’t claim the body. After completing the investigation, the state of Michigan will allow us to cremate the body.”

Kaspriak said about 10% of next of kin will come back after taking some time to think about it.

Unclaimed persons go into a national database that allows anyone to see that the person has passed, she said. That allows the next of kin medical examiners couldn’t reach to see that the person has passed and potentially claim them.

If no one claims the body, the cremated remains stay with the medical examiner’s office until a plot of land in which to bury the deceased is donated.

The 2023 report also showed that Alpena County medical examiners reviewed fewer suicides last year than in 2022, but reviewed more natural and accidental deaths, leading to a higher death total last year than in 2022.

“It’s important to know that, when you’re looking at these statistics, this does not represent all the deaths that happened in Alpena,” Kaspriak said. “The medical examiners review any deaths that are deemed unexpected, such as suicides or even things like heart attacks in healthy individuals. Just because someone’s 70 years old doesn’t mean they’re not doing well. They might be as fit as an athlete and the primary care physician should have no reason to expect the person to die soon.

“Medical examiners are usually known as the last aspect of first responders,” Kaspriak added. “They’re almost seen as an afterthought because we do look at the unexpected deaths. Nonetheless, it’s an important job.”

Medical examiners reviewed about 10 more natural deaths last year than in 2022, according to the group’s annual reports.

The leading cause of natural deaths reviewed by the medical examiners was overwhelmingly cardiac-related, adding up to 61 of 91 natural death cases. The second- and third-highest leading causes were respiratory and cancer, only adding up to eight and six of the number of natural deaths reviewed by the medical examiner, respectively.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death statewide and nationwide.

Check out the 2022 and 2023 Alpena County medical examiner’s reports below.

Alpena County Medical Examiner Reports 2023 and 2022 by JustinHinkley on Scribd