Teenager becomes certified death investigator

PORTLAND, Ind. – With her father as a role model and a love of the television show “CSI,” a high school senior has become Indiana’s youngest certified death investigator.

Amanda Barnett, 18, was certified last month and is one of four deputy coroners working for her father, Jay County Coroner Mark Barnett.

“It’s kind of weird to (my friends),” she said. “To other people it’s disgusting, but I think it’s interesting, and somebody’s got to do it.”

Amanda Barnett said her goal has been to follow in her father’s footsteps since his first campaign for coroner 15 years ago, and she has attended numerous coroner conventions with him. Her father accompanied her on some of her first calls.

She had to receive special permission to attend a certification class given by the Indiana State Coroners Training Board because she was only 17 when it began. She scored 97 percent on the test, submitted four case reports and attended an autopsy.

Barnett will soon graduate from high school, and she said she plans to attend Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis in the fall to become a forensic nurse examiner.