Finding the victims

There’s no central source of public information that lists covid-19 victims in Arkansas by name.

To tell human stories behind the pandemic’s statistics, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette contacted county coroners for the state’s 75 counties to obtain death reports, which are the only public records that contain more detailed information, including names, addresses and causes of death.

In addition, reporters examined obituaries and contacted victims’ families.

In some cases, family members spoke about their loved ones’ illnesses and gave permission to publish names and photographs. When the family declined or couldn’t be reached, names were generally withheld for this “Lives Remembered” series.