BRIGHTON, Colo. -- The family of an Adams County man is upset that his body traveled to five different places before their request for an autopsy was granted.

Wayne Kelly, 54, died Jan. 19 at the University of Colorado Hospital after a long battle with both diabetes and kidney failure.

At that point, a spokeswoman told 7NEWS, the hospital can conduct an autopsy.

New Adams County Coroner Monica Broncucia-Jordan said she decided to have the body sent to her office to ensure the man had not died as a result of any medical mistake or complication from treatments he'd received.

He didn't, she said.

But Kelly's family also wanted his organs donated, the coroner told 7NEWS.

So Kelly's body went from the hospital to an organ donation center, to the funeral home in Arvada, back to the coroner's office and -- at last -- back to the funeral home to await cremation.

"And I don't appreciate it being shipped around like a lost bag at DIA," said Sondra Kelly, Wayne's ex-wife. "By no stretch of the imagination was Wayne a pillar of the community, but he's a human being and his remains deserved to be treated better."

A member of the Colorado Funeral Director's Association told 7NEWS it's not uncommon for bodies to go back and forth between death and autopsy.

Broncucia-Jordan said she saved the family "up to $5,000" in costs for a private autopsy.

She also said she's being targeted based on past media exposure and feels the Kelly family is understandably distraught.

"With all of the media attention I've had lately, it's easy to direct those in certain areas," she said.

Broncucia-Jordan fired 11 staff members on Jan.13, her third day in office.

Now, she said, she's trying to determine how much of a case backlog needs her attention, but estimates it's anywhere from 100 to 2,500 cases long.

And she is emphatic the backlog is not a result of the firings.

"Well, maybe we should just switch that up a little bit," Broncucia-Jordan said. "The backlog of cases comes from back when those staffers were still here."

Former Adams County Coroner Jim Hibbard told 7NEWS he's tired of being blamed for the problems that are now Broncucia-Jordan's.

"I have no idea what they've done. We were up to date up until she took office. To my knowledge, we were current with all our death certificates," Hibbard said. "It's her responsibility to take care of any outstanding death certificates. All my staffers assure me we were current."

Often contracted to perform autopsies under Hibbard's administration, Dr. Michael Burson told 7NEWS there may be death certificates that have not been completed but said all autopsies prior to Dec. 20 are done.

Broncucia-Jordan has the approval from county commissioners and said she hopes to re-hire for all 11 open positions by March 1.