Guide
After a death at home in Indio: the steps, in order
Most people have never had to do this. Here is what happens between the first phone call and the day the house is yours again: who does what, and where the family has a say.
From the first call to the release
- 1
Call 911, or the hospice nurse
If the death was unexpected, call 911. If your relative was in hospice care and the death was expected, ring the hospice instead, and the nurse will come and guide you. Under California law the coroner looks into deaths where no doctor or hospice nurse saw the person in the 20 days before, and any death that was sudden, violent or unwitnessed.
- 2
Police, then a deputy coroner
In Indio, city police officers arrive first. For a coroner's case they notify the Riverside County Sheriff-Coroner, and a deputy coroner comes to the house. Try not to move anything in the room meanwhile.
- 3
Your relative is taken into care
Where the coroner takes charge, your relative is taken into the coroner's care. Not every case goes that far. The law lets the coroner decide how much inquiry a natural death needs, and the person's own doctor may be allowed to sign the death certificate.
- 4
You choose a funeral home
The choice is the family's. The person with the legal right to decide signs the coroner's Request for Release of Remains, naming a funeral home or mortuary, which then collects your relative. The form is on the Coroner's Bureau page in English and Spanish.
- 5
Belongings come back
Whatever the coroner took for safekeeping, a wallet, jewelry, a phone, goes to the funeral home along with your relative unless you tick the box to collect it yourself. Either way there is a limit: the coroner keeps property for ninety days from the date of death. Collection is by appointment.
- 6
The home is handed back
Before leaving, the officers tell you the home is released. Lock it. If the room needs more than ordinary cleaning, shut its door and leave it for a cleanup company. That decision can wait a day.
Coroner Bureau East
The Riverside County Sheriff-Coroner's office for the desert.
- Address
- 47-225 Oasis Street, Indio, CA 92201
- Phone
- (760) 863-8311
- Forms
- Release of Remains and Release of Property, both on the Coroner's Bureau page.
When cleanup is needed, and when it is not
A peaceful death in bed, found soon, usually leaves nothing that washing the linen and ordinary cleaning cannot deal with. A company is needed when there is blood, when the person was not found for a day or longer, or when fluids have reached a mattress, carpet or the floor.
Neither the police nor the coroner cleans. That falls to the family or the owner. California makes businesses that do this work register with the state, and checking a company shows where to look one up.
Questions families ask
Who is allowed to sign the release?
The person with the legal right to control what happens to the remains. The form points to Health and Safety Code section 7100 for the order. If relatives disagree, or you are unsure who it is, ask the coroner's office or the funeral home.
May we go into the house before it is cleaned?
Once it is released, yes. It is yours. Keep out of the affected room, and keep children and pets away from it.
What if it happened outside Indio's city limits?
The coroner is the same right across the Coachella Valley. The police are not: sheriff's deputies respond in Coachella, La Quinta, Palm Desert and the unincorporated areas, and Cathedral City has its own department. The service area page lists who answers where.
Ready when the home has been handed back
There is no rush to phone tonight. Once police or the coroner have released the property, a single call reaches a cleanup company that works in Indio and the neighboring desert cities.
One number, any hour
Describe the room or the vehicle in your own words. An independent cleanup company takes it from there, and hiring it stays your choice.
Call (760) 289-3572Answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Calls may be recorded. Read the referral disclosure and the privacy policy.