CHEYENNE - The Albany County coroner said Monday that an autopsy report for slain University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard is among numerous autopsy records missing from his office.

Coroner Tom Furgeson said he received only a small box of records covering the previous 16 years when he became county coroner in January 2007.

"It was very, very, very few (records) considering it was supposed to cover 16 years worth of coroner's office activity," Furgeson said Monday. "It was something that barely half-filled about the size of an apple box."

In comparison, Furgeson said he had filled up a file cabinet drawer with records during one year in office.

Furgeson said it took about seven months and repeated requests to the former county coroner, Julie Heggie, to get any records from her tenure in the elected position.

He said there was no pattern to which records were missing. He said he had no reason to believe that the autopsy report for Shepard or other high profile cases had been withheld or stolen. Shepard died Oct. 12, 1998, five days after he was beaten and left for dead in a field near Laramie.

"There are huge gaps (in missing records) all along the spectrum," Furgeson said.

He said he didn't know if any copies of the Shepard autopsy report exist.

"I have no idea if copies were made," he said. "I have no idea where the original is."

Heggie, who was Albany County coroner from 1990 to 2006, hung up on a reporter when contacted by The Associated Press on Monday. Heggie told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle last week that she gave the autopsy reports to the county attorney when she left office. She wouldn't specify how she turned them over.

Furgeson said he established a coroner's office in a county building after he took office, while Heggie had kept her records in her residence.

When contacted by the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, Albany County Attorney Richard Bohling would not comment on whether he had the autopsy reports. He told the newspaper that he was not the custodian of record and that any document requests would have to go through the coroner.

Bohling did not return a phone message left by The Associated Press on Monday.

The missing records also include autopsy reports for the "Wyoming Eight," eight members of the University of Wyoming cross country and track teams who were killed by a drunken driver in 2001, Furgeson said.

Furgeson said he's going through county clerk receipts, which could indicate expenses or budget activity related to the coroner's office, to try to piece together which records are missing.

Wyoming law calls for all public records to be transferred by outgoing officials and employees to their successors.

Furgeson said he discussed the records with Bohling when Furgeson took office in 2006. A letter was drafted to Heggie, but ultimately nothing was done because Heggie turned over some records in July 2007, Furgeson said.

Albany County Commissioner Tim Chesnut said he was made aware of the missing records when Furgeson took office. He said he planned to speak with the county attorney on the subject.

"At this point, we need to get with Julie (Heggie) and find out where this stuff is," Chesnut said.

Marty Luna, the Laramie County coroner and a member of the Wyoming Board of Coroner Standards, said counties have different methods for maintaining their records, but coroners are expected to keep some record of their work for legal and historical purposes.

He said there would be no reason for an outgoing coroner to transfer the records to the county attorney's office.

"It makes no sense at all unless he made the request for them for future legal activity," Luna said.