KOKOMO — Foul play is not suspected in the death of an inmate last week at the Howard County Jail, the Howard County Coroner said Monday.
Rich A. Bartel, 51, of Peru died Friday after corrections officers found him unconscious and unresponsive in his cell, officials say. After an autopsy, the coroner's office said "no indication of foul play was found."
On Dec. 22, the coroner says Bartel's manner of death is natural causes and the result of bilateral pulmonary emboli due to deep vein thrombosis.
The Howard County Sheriff's Office has said that Bartel was found unresponsive about 11:30 a.m. Friday. He was taken to Ascension St. Vincent Kokomo, where he was pronounced dead about 1 p.m., according to the coroner.
Authorities have not provided additional information. The investigation is ongoing.
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