Tackling the Taboo

TACKLING THE TABOO KAYLEE NEURA’S STUDENT EXPERIENCE WITH THE WAYNE COUNTY CORONER’s OFFICE

For many, the thought of stumbling onto an active crime scene or happening across a deceased person’s remains is enough in itself to make their stomachs churn, let alone willingly making an entire career out of the practice. However, those who choose to work in the fields of forensic science and crime scene investigation play a crucial role in solving ongoing and cold case investigations, as well as providing comfort to grieving families. Though the work requires an absence of the squeamish gene, it remains no less dignified or important. For these reasons, Tiffin University’s Kaylee Neura has found a love for the profession and remains grateful to her professors for facilitating the experiential learning prospect that allowed her to discover this.

Originally from Medina, Ohio, Kaylee completed her Bachelor of Criminal Justice degree in criminalistics in May of 2022 and now works at the Wayne County, Ohio Coroner's Office, a job that actually began during her final year at Tiffin. She hopes to continue this work full-time as she gains more industry experience.

"I have TU - specifically Dr. Lacy Ellis and Dr. Pete Piraino - to thank for helping me get my foot in the door," she remembered. "It's actually pretty funny how it all ended up playing out." It is a requirement that prior to graduation, all TU students must complete an internship to gain exposure to the real world pertaining to their chosen majors. Though Kaylee had already done this by working with the security team at Ohio's Cedar Point Amusement Park, she was soon offered another chance to break into her field through a much different avenue.

"It all started as a joke," Kaylee remembered. "For my senior seminar class, I had to sit for a mock job interview with several of my professors. At one point, Dr. Ellis asked whether I could handle myself around decedents or more gruesome crime scenes. I must have sounded pretty confident in my answer - I told them I wasn't squeamish at all, that I'd always been fascinated by the human anatomy. We laughed about it in the moment, but after all was said and done, she pulled me aside and said she had a connection with the Wayne County Coroner. She told me that if I was interested in an additional shadowing opportunity, she would get it arranged. The rest is history." its soccer program, which she participated in for all of her four years on campus, she soon found there was much more to life as a Dragon than athletics.

“I really felt like I’d found a home,” said Kaylee. “I’ve always thrived in small academic settings, so TU was the perfect fit in that regard. Even more than that though, the community is so close-knit. Your friends and mentors really care about you – they know your name, your story. I wouldn’t get that at a larger state school. Plus, for how small a place it is, I feel there is no shortage of opportunities and resources available to students."

In Kaylee’s eyes, the education she received from TU was incredible, and she applauds her instructors for their commitment to what she calls “hands-on learning.”

“That definitely separates us from the pack,” she remarked. “You’re not just hearing about things secondhand through endless lectures; you’re consistently going into the field and learning by doing. I remember being taught about how explosives are often used in illegal activities for a forensic science course. Dr. Schupp actually brought us to a real bomb squad’s training grounds and some explosives experts showed us how to safely make and detonate our own, in order for us to study the impact they can have.”

According to Kaylee, though TU did nothing but nurture the passion, her interest in what many shy away from began long before her college journey.

“I blame ‘Law and Order’, to be honest,” she said with a laugh. “Yes, there’s always been a morbid curiosity when it comes to the study of ballistics or how bodies decay, but more than that, I always felt the investigators on the shows I watched as a teenager were doing everyone a huge favor by engaging in work nobody else wanted to touch, and it’s such important work, too. Without death scene analysts and forensic scientists, thousands of crimes would go unsolved, murderers would go free and leave surviving family members without closure. That’s really where my passion comes from – I want to help others.”

death investigator and remain closely involved with the study of all suspicious, violent or unexplained deaths that fall under her jurisdiction. To her, this is precisely how she feels she can leave a positive mark on the world.

“I see it as a way for me to give back,” she said. “Without the kindness of my TU mentors, I never would have gotten in with the Wayne County Coroner, nor felt confident enough to take on these responsibilities before even graduating, but they did everything in their power to make sure I was ready. They put me first, so now I try to pay it forward by representing the school that did so much for me as best I can. I walk into the office or into the field with this mindset every day."

Kaylee is working toward becoming certified as a death investigator, and finds the work she's doing with Wayne County in the meantime to be deeply rewarding, especially when she is able to help families of the deceased.

"Until I pass my exams and log enough field hours, much of my days will consist of completing and filing paperwork, as well as working with the relatives of those who fall into our care," she said. "I wouldn't trade what I've learned by doing this for anything. Working with grieving families has made me a more empathetic, compassionate person. They're the ones who are truly affected by death, which is why we have funerals. Grief is the work of the living, and it's my honor to help them through it in some small way. I try to make everything on the backend easier for them - filing paperwork, figuring out the cost of funeral or cremation services, etc. so they can dedicate their energy to coming to terms with these tragedies."