Darren Bio

A1 Me

Darren Dake is a law enforcement professional with over 30 years of experience in criminal and medicolegal death investigations. Darren has worked in both the law enforcement realm of investigations as well as in the role of senior investigator with the Coroner’s office for over 20 years. This combined investigative experience has uniquely established Darren as an expert in investigations which allows him to consult and teach internationally on investigation practices and procedures.
Darren holds national certification as a Medicolegal Death Investigator through the American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators (ABMDI), as well as being a nationally certified criminal investigator and certified criminal investigations instructor.
Other accomplishments include the founding of the Death Investigation Academy as well as other investigator-focused resources such as the Death Investigator Magazine and the Coroner Talk Podcast. Darren has also published several books related to investigations; Investigating Suicide and Self-Harm Deaths, Interviews and Interrogations- getting the information you want, and Autoerotic Fatalities – a guide to investigating and interpreting the scene. Darren also co-authored the book CODE-Living healthy, happy, and whole submerged in tragedy, trauma, and death.

Career Timeline

  • 1986-1990  US Army Military Police
  • 1991-1993 Franklin County Missouri Sheriff’s Office
  • 1993 – 2013  Crawford County Missouri Sheriff’s Office
  • 1998- Present  Crawford County Missouri Coroner’s Office
  • 2013 – Present Cuba Missouri Police Department

Education and Certifications 

  • Class A – Missouri Law Enforcement Certification
  • East Central College – Union, Mo.   Criminal Justice
  • Accredited D-ABMDI – American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators
  • Certified Criminal Investigator  – American College of Forensic Examiners
  • Principles of Fire Investigation – University of Missouri
  • Certified CVSA examiner
  • Advance Interview and Interrogations training – and instructor
  • Certified Jail Procedures and Administration through  MSA
  • Certified by Missouri S.T.A.T  in  Child Death Investigations
  • Certified in Child Sexual Assault Investigations
  • Crime Scene  Investigator
  • Advanced Investigation School
  • Certified  in underwater search & rescue and scene preservation
  • Missouri Department of Public Safety P.O.S.T Certified Instructor
  • Missouri Sheriff’s Association Instructor
  • Missouri LETI Instructor
  • Past President Missouri Medical Examiner-Coroner Association.
  • Hundreds of hours of training in Patrol and Criminal Procedures.
  • Has personally investigated and consulted in  thousands of death investigations

Affiliations 

  • Missouri Sheriff’s Association   MSA
  • Missouri Coroner and Medical Examiner Association  (MCMEA)
  • The American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators (ABMDI)
  • American College of Forensic Examiners Institute  (ACFEI)
  • International Association  of Coroners and Medical Examiner
  • Toastmaster International
  • Church of God, TN – Credentialed

Most Requested Speaking Topicsspeaking-icon

Reference Statements 

 “in developing a criminal investigation division for our department, there was no question you were the one to lead it. You have accomplished this task in an efficient an exemplary  manner”  Major Jim Squires Retired 

“Darren is a dynamic and charismatic instructor, he holds the classrooms attention, encourages and draws in participation from attendees successfully.  I would personally recommend Darren as an instructor/speaker to any organization” Sgt. Jessie Venable, Retired  Franklin County Missouri – Conference Coordinator MDSA 

“I personally give my recommendation to Darren Dake. Darren is highly skilled in the area of organization, management, team building, and facilitating staff needs and training. Darren possess’ a quality of leadership needed today. His teaching style is relevant to today’s issues , keeping participants alert and able to benefit for the topic being taught.”  Roger Taber – 

“Darren, your efforts and information were an integral part of our conference, and we greatly appreciate your contribution . I am happy to let you know that your presentation at the conference was well received and given high marks. I very much enjoyed working with you and look forward to doing so again in the future. ” Jen Howe – Conference Coordinator, Colorado Coroner Association  

A1 MeDarren-Dake-profile-picCoroner Talk Logo