At just 27 years old, Jayke Minor died in his home in Fayette in 2011. His girlfriend found him and by the time paramedics got there, it was too late. Six and a half years later, his dad still doesn’t know why his son died.

“I’m never going to have the answers I need to know what happened to Jayke,” Jay Minor said.

Jayke Minor had a history of drug use, according to his father and police, but officers said there was no evidence of drug use on the scene. Even so, Howard County Coroner Frank Flaspohler decided the death was an accidental drug overdose.

“That’s what he listed it as. With no evidence,” Jay Minor said. “He didn’t do an autopsy. He didn’t contact me to ask for one.”

Flaspohler said Jayke Minor’s history of drug use factored heavily into his decision that evening.

“Talked to the two policemen on scene. They said nope, there’s nothing suspicious. There was some history there,” Flaspohler said.

But two years later, a toxicology report from the Missouri State Highway Patrol brought everything in the original determination into question.

“When we got the toxicology report back, it started falling apart,” Jay Minor said. “It came back negative for anything but marijuana. And you don’t die from marijuana.”

Another year passed, and Flaspohler changed his report to indicate Jayke Minor died from a heart issue, with the manner of death listed as “natural.”

But now, all evidence that could help get a definitive answer is gone: Jayke Minor was cremated, the blood samples were destroyed per lab protocol, and there was no autopsy.

Six years ago, Flaspohler said, only autopsies involved in criminal cases would be paid for by the county, with few exceptions.

Fixing inconsistencies

Other coroners call the case flawed, and are pushing for legislation to improve training for the career.

Flaspohler is being accused of mishandling the case by fellow coroners for a number of reasons, from the wrong name being on his coroner’s report to obvious discrepancies KOMU 8 News identified between his report and police reports, including the location and temperature of the body.

Saline County Coroner Willie Harlow, who sits on the board of the Missouri Coroners’ and Medical Examiners’ Association, said he is frustrated with the case, calling it flawed and directly blaming Flaspohler.

“He made a quick decision that (Minor) was a drug user, so he died of a drug overdose. And at that moment in time, Frank Flaspohler was done with that case,” Harlow said.

Harlow supports a bill in the Missouri House that would collect a fee on death certificates that would fund better training for coroners. Currently, there are only age and residency restrictions to become a coroner in the state. Even though coroners may have no experience with medicine, the training requirement is just 20 hours a year, a requirement not everyone is completing. House Bill 2079, introduced by Rep. Dan Houx, R-Warrensburg, would prohibit coroners who are not up-to-date on training from being able to sign death certificates.

“There are many coroners who do not attend training of any kind, yet there is nothing that our association can do about that,” Harlow said.

There are also few requirements dictating how a coroner must handle a death investigation. According to coroners, children under 1 year old who die must be autopsied, but there are few set standards after that.

“There really needs to be a standard guideline for coroners to follow to tell them, ‘This is when you should be doing autopsies, and this is when you should be ordering toxicology,’” said Kathleen Little, executive director of the Missouri Coroners’ and Medical Examiners’ Association.

Jay Minor and his girlfriend, Debby Ferguson, have spent years asking anyone who will listen for help. They recently launched a letter-writing campaign to reach every coroner and medical examiner in the state, as well as lawmakers.

“Our goal is that no other parent has to go through this and wonder what happened to their child,” Jay Minor said.

Some states, like Kansas, require coroners to be doctors, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Other states require a death investigator certification; Little said the association may push for that in Missouri.

When it comes to the Minor investigation, Flaspohler said it has made him think about changes.

“I will tell you, it took way too long. I totally agree with that,” Flaspohler said. “I’ve had 1,000 calls, never had one that took this long.”

He said he is now tracking his cases using a new computer system and is making sure records are done faster. He said he does attend training, including additional, optional training, and he is in favor of upping the training requirements for coroners across the state.

Flaspohler also said a recent coroner’s inquest related to a teen’s suicide death related to bullying has made him look at things differently.

“I’ve actually spent the last year dealing with this inquest and saying we need to look at the schools and say we can do better. So, I can look at me and say, I can do better. We can find a better way. We can get more training. We can get a better computer program,” Flaspohler said.