By Nate Sunderland
Idaho Falls Post Register
REXBURG, Idaho — There was no indication that a female inmate at the Madison County Jail was troubled before she was found hanging in her cell, a Madison County Sheriff’s Office spokesman said.
The dead woman was identified Friday as Winnie Fay Ard, 53, of the Boise area. Her body was discovered at 5:12 a.m. Thursday. Authorities said her death was the first suicide in the jail’s history.
Ard was not on suicide watch, authorities said, and detention officers had ""no idea"" she was contemplating such an act.
“This definitely affects our staff - it strikes them hard,” Capt. Bruce Bowler said.
Detention officers routinely check on prisoners. Ard was checked on early Thursday, before the incident, authorities said, and nothing appeared to be amiss.
Ard was serving a three- to 10-year sentence for second-offense drunken driving and would have been eligible for parole in July 2013. She had been held in the Madison County Jail for the past six months under a contract with the Idaho Department of Correction.
Sheriff’s officials and Madison County Coroner Rick Davis declined to comment
Friday on specific details of the suicide because the investigation was continuing.
The sheriff’s office has asked the Tri-County Sheriff’s Association to investigate the circumstances surrounding Ard’s death.
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