MARION COUNTY — Marion County Coroner Troy Cannon has released 2018 statistics for his office.

According to Cannon, the total number of deaths in Marion County in 2018 hit an even 500, which was up from 465 the previous year.

Cannon says that number varies somewhat from year to year, but generally increases over several years’ average.

Of those deaths, 473 were Coroner Cases, in which the circumstances surrounding the death were reviewed by the Coroner and the death certificates were certified and signed by the Coroner or the Assistant Coroner.

Many of those cases required an in-depth, full investigation. The remaining 27 were Medical Cases, signed by the attending physician.

• 466 were deaths from natural causes. Cancers of various forms claimed 122, up from 100 in 2017.
• Accidental deaths in 2018 totaled 23; there were 3 traffic fatalities, which is down from 6 in 2017.
• There was 1 occupational death, but zero in 2017. 6 drug overdoses (4 from opiates), which is down from 9 in 2017 (all were opiate/opioid related in 2017)
• 13 deaths were from other accidental causes, up from 7 the previous year.
• There were 8 deaths ruled as suicides in 2018, 9 in 2017.
• The Coroner’s Office investigated 2 homicides in 2018, 1 in 2017.
• There were no deaths of undetermined causes in either year.
• The Coroner’s Office conducted 11 autopsies in 2018, the same number as 2017.
• The Coroner authorized 242 cremations in 2018, an increase from 187 the previous year.