SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Minnehaha County Coroner Dr. Kenneth Snell doesn’t examine every death in the county, but when he does, he can be looking for the cause or cause of death.
Snell updated the county commission Tuesday on the cases from 2025. Of the cases he examined, only 3% were undetermined causes. The 3% is four cases and is less than the national average of 5%. Those would be cases where the method of death was examined and undetermined.
In 2025, he accepted 500 cases. In those cases, the coroner has several methods to respond, including examinations for cause or manner of death. An external is one that is accepted for a death certificate but the body is not examined. An examination was done on 141, autopsies were done on 86 and externals were completed on 55…