Decomposition cleanup
Unattended death cleanup in Sioux Falls
When someone dies alone and is not found for days or weeks, the home needs more than cleaning. Fluids soak into flooring and subfloor, and odor settles into the building. An independent cleanup company can take this on so the family does not have to.
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First
The coroner comes first
The coroner looks into many deaths at home
In South Dakota the county coroner investigates deaths by unnatural means and natural deaths of people who were not under a clinician's care. In those cases the body is not moved without the coroner's permission.
Source: SDCL 23-14-18 · SDCL 23-14-19
One coroner's office for both counties
The Minnehaha County Coroner/Medical Examiner is at 1305 W. 18th St., Sioux Falls, phone (605) 333-1730. The state's Dakota at Home directory lists the same office as serving Lincoln County.
Source: Minnehaha County · Dakota at Home
The work
What the cleanup involves
The company removes the affected materials, which often includes carpet, pad, sections of subfloor, a mattress or upholstered furniture. It treats the area with disinfectant and works on the odor at its source rather than covering it.
Odor can travel through vents and into other rooms. Ask how the company tests whether the odor is gone and what it does if it returns.
Personal items can often be saved. Tell the company which belongings matter to you before work starts, and ask how it sorts what it finds.
Paying for it
Insurance and the estate
Homeowner policies sometimes cover cleanup and repairs after a death in the home. Read the policy or ask the agent before the work starts, and ask the cleanup company to photograph and itemize what it removes.
If the person who died owned the home, the estate may pay. If it was a rental, the landlord and the lease decide much of what happens next: see the landlord page.
Other situations
Something else happened?
- Crime scene cleanupAfter a homicide, assault or other violent crime, once police release the scene.
- Suicide cleanupQuiet, careful cleanup so the family does not have to do it.
- Blood and bodily fluid cleanupAfter an injury, a fall or a medical emergency at home or at work.
- Hoarding with biohazardsHomes where waste, sharps or spoiled food make clearing unsafe.
- Infectious disease cleanupCleaning and disinfecting after an illness, with the right products.
- Vehicle biohazard cleanupBlood or bodily fluids in a car, truck or van.