The victims' bodies were taken to the nearby town of Slatina for forensic examination on 17 December. Mackley contacted Croatian authorities and obtained permission to document the autopsies of the victims, but was denied access by authorities in Slatina. Mackley telephoned Croatian Defence Minister Gojko Šušak asking him to intervene on his behalf, but the local police allegedly disobeyed Šušak. The special police was deployed to Slatina to enforce Šušak's order to cooperate, almost causing an armed clash over the issue. To settle matters, a team was sent to Slatina by Zagreb University's Institute for Forensic Medicine to perform autopsies, retrieve bodies and perform the rest of the procedures in Zagreb.