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Kane County coroner details suicide trends, veteran suicides and new REDCap data sharing with public health
Summary
Coroner Silva reported case volumes, autopsy figures and a new REDCap data-sharing arrangement with public health intended to track deaths in real time; she provided five-year suicide aggregates (224 suicides, 13 veteran suicides from 2020–2024) and said 2024 had 51 suicides and a single veteran suicide.
Kane County Coroner Dr. Silva told the Judicial & Public Safety Committee on Feb. 13 that her office is tracking deaths and suicides more closely and has established a REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture) database to share de‑identified case data with the county health department for public‑health planning.
Dr. Silva said the coroner’s office was managing 395 active cases requiring investigation and that most are classified as “return to medical” where an outside physician is willing to sign the death certificate. She reported 224 total suicides in the five‑year period 2020–2024, of which 13 were veterans; the veteran suicides ranged in age from 21 to 85 with an average age of about 60. In 2024 the coroner reported 51 suicides and one veteran suicide; as of the Feb. 13 meeting there had been no veteran suicides yet in 2025.
The coroner said not all reported deaths require autopsies; she provided counts of autopsies completed and an estimate of costs saved when autopsies are not required. She stressed the time needed to close cases affects families and other legal processes (for example, changing billing accounts requires a closed death certificate) and said shortening case-closure time is a departmental priority.
Dr. Silva described the REDCap collaboration with Kane County Public Health as a way to collect timely data on municipality, mental‑health history, prior overdoses, LGBTQ+ status and other variables that public health and law enforcement can use to target interventions and prevention work, including tracking fentanyl‑related deaths.
Why it matters: systematic, timely death reporting helps public‑health officials identify geographic or demographic clusters and target prevention efforts, including veteran‑suicide outreach and overdose prevention.
What’s next: Dr. Silva said her office will continue to refine case‑closure timelines, expand the REDCap data feed with public health, and engage in community outreach events, including a Polar Plunge fundraiser.
