MARENGO, IOWA – Just one day after an Iowa prison inmate was discovered hanging in his jail cell, another man held in captivity was discovered dead, also by hanging.
According to the Iowa County sheriff’s office, on June 24, 2015 at 4:52 PM, an Iowa county jailer discovered inmate Ross Allen Emerson who had hanged himself in an apparent suicide in his cell. CPR was immediately performed and Mr. Emerson was transported to Marengo Memorial Hospital, where he later died.
As a matter of protocol, Iowa County Sheriff Robert Rotter requested that the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation conduct an independent investigation into the death. The DCI is investigating as requested. An autopsy will be conducted in a Kenny at the Iowa office of the state medical examiner.
Mr. Emerson was being held in the Iowa county jail on an assault charge with a $5,000 bond.
The previous day, a convicted attempted murderer took his own life in a Coralville, Iowa prison cell.