Missing coroner is found dead in Richmond motel

By Bill Robinson
Register News Writer

July 04, 2008 10:55 pm

— The body of missing Clark County Coroner David Jacobs, 45, was discovered at 12:50 p.m. Friday at the Best Western Hotel in Richmond off Exit 87 of Interstate 75.
Madison County Coroner Jimmy Cornelison, who pronounced Jacobs dead at 1:10 p.m., said an intentional drug overdose was the likely cause of death.
Jacobs probably died around 5 p.m.Friday, June 27, Cornelison said.
Jacobs had checked into the hotel that same day, said Sgt. Willard Reardon, spokesperson for the Richmond Police Department, which is investigating the case with Cornelison.
“We found evidence in the room that would support a prescription drug overdose as the cause of death,” Cornelison said. “I don’t believe anyone else was involved.”
No autopsy will be performed, but toxicology tests by the state medical examiner’s office should determine the exact cause of death, he said.
According to an Associated Press report, Jacobs had been missing since June 27, when he left a note to his roommate indicating that he planned to do himself harm. The roommate, Chuck Corby Jr., filed a missing persons report that day with the Clark County Sheriff’s office.
Jacobs had been arrested June 17 and charged with indecent exposure after allegedly exposing his genitals to an undercover Lexington police officer, the AP report said.
He was scheduled for a court appearance July 10.
Jacobs, who became an assistant Clark County Coroner in 1983, had been coroner since 1990.