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Last updated on Tuesday, May 13, 2014
(COLUMBUS) - After a year of fighting for answers, the family of Cary Owsley hopes for closure this week.
The Columbus man died just over a year ago in what was ruled a suicide, but his family never believed that and demanded an autopsy.
In a statement to 24-Hour News 8, Owsley's sister, Cheryl Jackson, wrote "Our family is emotionally exhausted from the year-long fight for the exhumation of Cary's body for a proper autopsy. The weeks of waiting on the autopsy results have been difficult, especially for our mother who has suffered two strokes in the last few months, but we are confident that we delivered Cary into the hands of experts and we believe those experts are working now on finding the truth. All we ever owed Cary was a chance for the truth to be told about his death."
This fight goes back to April 2013, when the 49-year-old was found dead from a gunshot wound to the chest.
The Bartholomew County Coroner ruled this a suicide, but didn't perform an autopsy.
Owsley's sister argued that police further mishandled this when three deputies were reprimanded for inappropriate actions during the investigation.
For 11 months his family demanded his body be exhumed so medical experts could answer once and for all whether this was suicide or foul play.
In March 2014, that finally happened, and his remains were taken to Fort Wayne for an autopsy.
At the time Cheryl Jackson said she was determined to see justice done for her brother.
"I really believed that the coroner had done his job the day my brother died, instead of doing what he said he did and walked in the room and developed an idea, take a cursory look around and say, 'I think he killed himself,' I wouldn't have spent the last 11 months campaigning for justice," she said.
The initial coroner has said he thinks the family will still get the same answer now: that this was suicide.
The current pathologist has said the autopsy "is progressing well."
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