Cascade County Sheriff Jesse Slaughter announced that an inmate died at the Cascade County Detention Center on Tuesday morning.
The inmate has been identified as 30-year old Zachary Swanson.
We do not yet know how long Swanson had been in custody, nor the reason that he was in jail.
Sheriff Slaughter says that because this was an in-custody death, and in accordance with standard procedures whenever there is an in-custody death, this will be investigated by the Montana Department of Justice's Division of Criminal Investigation.
Sheriff Slaughter said that the Petroleum County Coroner’s Office will assist DCI in the investigation.
No other details have been released at this point, including the possible cause and manner of death.
We will update you when we get more information.
NOTE: As of Wednesday morning, the Montana Department of Justice's Correctional Offender Network website lists a person by the name of Zachary Swanson, 30 years old, as a resident of the Great Falls Pre-Release Center; we have not yet been able to confirm whether or not this is the same person.
