BUTTE — Butte-Silver Bow County Coroner Lori Durkin is on administrative leave pending an investigation into the handling of the body of a man who died last summer in Butte.
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In a meeting Wednesday night, county commissioners voted to appoint an interim coroner.
"While I see the appointment of an acting coroner as a positive step for the families who have been through the loss of a loved one, it fails to remotely resolve the utter and repeated wrongs inflicted on Caleb," says Doug Ingraham.
Doug is the husband of Caleb Boelman, a 32-year-old Butte man who passed away in August 2024.
In early January, an attorney sent a letter to county commissioners concerning the mishandling of Boelman’s remains.
Now, the Boelman family has filed a civil suit against the county. Doug Ingraham is not a party in the lawsuit.
Documents allege Lori Durkin initially reported to the Boelman family that a “smorgasbord” of drugs was found in his body.
However, she later told the family that no illegal drugs were found in his system.
Other disturbing allegations claim that the coroner’s office did not immediately refrigerate Boelman’s body, resulting in rapid decomposition and "grotesque disfigurement" of the body.
County commissioners voted unanimously to instate Dan Hollis, who previously held the position in the 90s, as the interim county coroner.
"What my goal is, is to fill this position with integrity and as much compassion as I can," says Hollis.
(JANUARY 29, 2025) The husband of a 32-year-old Butte man who passed away suddenly in his sleep is speaking out after months of unanswered questions.
"I just want everybody to know that Caleb, Caleb was the best, happiest person and that’s not what people are remembering. Sorry. That’s not what people are remembering of him so that’s what I want people to remember," Doug Ingraham says.
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Ingraham married Caleb Boelman in 2023 on New Year’s Eve. The newlyweds were just a few months into their marriage when 32-year-old Caleb passed away in his sleep on August 10, 2024. Since that time Doug has been asking the county for information on Caleb’s death.
"I have never heard from the Silver-Bow County despite asking them directly after and again when this was all being worked up what is going on," says Ingraham.
Ingraham says he approached the county in October and November of 2024 but did not receive facts about Caleb’s death. Instead, he learned from a letter sent to county commissioners that a deputy coroner informed the Boelman family that a “smorgasbord” of drugs was found in Caleb’s system.
The coroner later told the Boelman family that that information was false and Caleb’s cause and manner of death could not be determined because of the decomposition of the body.
"I am the family, the next of kin and the aggrieved party in this but the family also has their stake in the fact that they have been traumatized as I have by this. However, the county of Silver Bow with anything, any responses to his death certificate, his cause of death, the circumstances of his body what was misinformed to the family," says Ingraham.
The Boelman family is seeking a settlement agreement for $750,000 and Butte-Silver Bow County is now asking county commissioners to appoint an interim coroner as Lori Durkin, an elected official, was placed on administrative leave.
"It does feel like the county of Silver Bow has willfully ignored and discriminated against my rights and Caleb’s rights and our right to privacy. It’s been just awful. It’s been retraumatizing over and over again. I keep thinking that we kind of have this put to rest and his memory—he was such a vibrant happy person, that this is not the way that I wanted him to be remembered."
