Jane Carman, Wife of Sheriff’s Palm Coast Precinct Commander, Found Dead at Her Home

Jane Carman, the 56-year-old wife of Mark Carman, commander of the Flagler County Sheriff’s Palm Coast precinct, was found dead on a bedroom floor at her home Sunday morning (June 22). The cause of death was attributed to aspiration, or choking, according to a Flagler County Sheriff’s report.

Jane Carman had been going through many years of difficulties with her health, including struggles with addiction, and the Carmans had been leading mostly separate lives–with Jane living in Chicago for a period until January before returning to her Wesley Lane home in Palm Coast to take care of health issues, at which point Mark lived mostly with his father.

On Sunday, Mark told sheriff’s deputies–who responded to the scene, and assigned a detective to the case–that he arrived at the residence, as he does every Sunday, to deliver a bagel to Jane. “Mark advised he entered the residence through the garage door and placed the bagel and newspaper on the kitchen counter top,” the incident report states. “Mark attempted to locate Jane and continued into her bedroom/bathroom. Mark advised he did not locate her in the bedroom; he then walked out to the lanai in an attempt to find her. Mark stated that even though he walked through the garage he thought maybe Jane went out with a friend and checked the garage to make sure her car was there. Mark stated the car was in the garage and then continued to his bedroom located on the 2 side of the residence. Mark advised when he passed the spare bedroom he located Jane face down in a room she would not normally frequent. Mark immediately went to Jane’s aid, to find her cold to the touch; he then backed out of the room” and called 911.

Deputies and paramedics were dispatched to the house at 10:10 a.m.

Flagler County Fire Rescue Paramedic Karen Prather pronounced Jane deceased at 10:12 a.m. “It should be noted that rescue personnel made no attempts to resuscitate the female,” the report, written by deputy James Miley, states. “After Karen Prather advised the female was deceased rescue personnel exited the bedroom and began to console the visibly upset husband, Mark Carman. Cpl. Allen and I entered the room and began to scan the deceased for any signs of injury or struggle within the room which was met with negative results.” Miley noted that Carman had been wearing a “multi-colored dress which appeared to be new, due to a sales tag still attached.”

A crime-scene log was initiated, as is routine in all such circumstances, and the scene was documented with photographs. Detective Diego Morales was assigned to the case. The medical examiner declined to respond to the scene. Instead, Dr. Robert Fruehan was contacted. “He asked Cpl. [Eric] Allen to determine if the female aspirated,” the report states. “Cpl. Allen and I re-entered the room and checked the body, discovering the female did in fact aspirate from her
nose and mouth. Cpl. Allen advised the doctor of our findings and he advised he would sign her death certificate.”

Four years ago, Jane Carman faced misdemeanor charges of disorderly intoxication and firing a gun under the influence of alcohol after she fired several shots inside the house. She completed a deferred prosecution agreement and the case was closed.

Mark Carman was not on duty today and could not be reached. A funeral service was held for Carman at Clymer funeral home Thursday evening at 5 p.m. “Mark,” Undersheriff Rick Staly wrote in a note emailed to officials and others around town, “conveyed his appreciation to all that have called him and visited him and thanks you for your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.”