LANCASTER COUNTY CORONER’S OFFICE

MOUNTED RESPONSE UNIT

First coroner’s-office-based mounted unit in the United States.

“It’s our duty to provide thorough investigations. It’s our honor to do so with pride and integrity.”

Mission

The Lancaster County Coroner's Office Mounted Response Unit is committed to serving our community with integrity, compassion, and dedication. Our mission is to provide exceptional search, rescue, recovery, and evidence location services while conducting thorough medicolegal death investigations. We honor the bond between humans and horses by repurposing horses once deemed forsaken, transforming them into valuable partners in public safety.

We strive to foster a culture of outreach and support, engaging with veterans, survivors of domestic violence, educational institutions, nursing homes, and community events. Together, we aim to uplift and empower the people of Lancaster County, ensuring their safety and well-being. Through our unwavering commitment to service, we seek to inspire hope, forge connections, and create a legacy of compassion for all.

The LCCO MRU is made up of both mounted and ground-based sworn and civilian volunteers with decades of experience in death investigation. The LCCO MRU is under the command of lifelong horsewoman and renowned homicide expert, forensic criminologist Deputy Coroner Commander Dr. Laura Pettler. “For me, the MRU is the culmination of both my passions rolled into one: horses and helping people, and as its Commander, it is my duty and one of the greatest honors of my life to serve the People of Lancaster County and South Carolina with Coroner Deese and fellow MRU volunteers.” Pettler said.

Pettler is the CEO of Laura Pettler & Associates Death Investigations (LPA), one of the leading victim-centered death investigations firms in the world. Pettler is the author of Crime Scene Staging Dynamics in Homicide Cases, and is the inventor of world-renowned Kaleidoscope Shooting and Bloodstain Incident Crime Scene Reconstruction System and The Murder Room Death Investigation Method. for more on Dr. Pettler, visit LauraPettler.com.

Second in command is renowned Georgia-based crime scene investigator, Law Enforcement Hall of Fame member, and Emmy winner, Sheryl “Mac” McCollum, founder of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute and its Wildlife CSI Academy, author of Cold Case: Pathways to Justice, who brings incredible expertise and who will serve as the MRU Deputy Coroner Assistant Commander focused on ground command. “It was an honor to serve as Director for the Crisis Response Team for the Atlanta Olympic Games Bombing, the 9-11 Crisis Response Team at the Pentagon, and now the citizens of Lancaster County as part of Coroner Deese’s MRU.” said McCollum.

CR Equine & Kennel’s Operations Manager Todd Ellis serves as the MRU’s Deputy Coroner Director of Equine Management, “As CREK’s Operations Manager, it’s my job to make sure the horses are well cared for and our grounds and structures are well maintained. I look forward to bringing those skills to the MRU to help others. I am honored to serve.”

Leadership also includes lifelong horsewoman and veteran death case analyst Alexis Pettler, who serves as the MRU’s Deputy Coroner Director of Logistics. “I am honored to work with this incredible team under the leadership of Coroner Deese. My focus and passion has always been helping the community and those around me and this position gives me the opportunity to utilize both my death investigation and horsemanship skills.”

Our Horses: RescueeToRescuer

Along with Friesians, Gypsy Cobs, and volunteers’ personal horses, one of our primary goals is to retrain and repurpose horses from equine slaughter pipeline. Approximately 20,000 American companion horses unwillingly are thrown away and end up at low-level horse auctions where they are sold to who are commonly known in the horse world as “kill buyers”. These individuals transport the horses to holding pens or directly to our borders where they sell the horses by weight to Mexico and Canada for human consumption. Neither country humanely euthanizes America’s thrown-away horses, instead they meet a terrifyingly violent demise. Click here for more information.

Media

Contact the MRU