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BOX ELDER COUNTY — After serving as sheriff for eight years, the Box Elder County sheriff died Tuesday morning.
Lynn Yeates, 68, became the sheriff of Box Elder County in January 2007. He was re-elected for another four-year term and was sworn into office Monday for his third term. When he didn’t show up for work Tuesday morning, officials went to his home and discovered Yeates had died, according to Box Elder County Commissioner Stan Summers.
Summers said there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death and that Yeates died of natural causes.
Yeates was hired by the Box Elder County Sheriff's Office in 1975 as a crime lab technician. According to his biography on his Facebook page, he worked his way through the ranks as a patrol officer, detective, sergeant, jail commander, chief deputy and then sheriff.
Yeates was also a certified EMT and taught classes on first aid and CPR, as well as neighborhood watch and disaster planning. He ran the ambulance service for many of the rural areas of the county.
While his wife, Lynda, was battling brain cancer, Yeates had promised her that he would run for re-election and continue serving as sheriff, Summers said. Lynda Yeates died in November.
"I really think it's going to be tough on a community that rallies around people," Summers said. "We appreciate the people that put their lives on the line everyday for us to keep us safe and our freedoms."
Yeates was known for keeping a book of records in his office that contained posters of criminals from the early 1900s, according to a previous KSL article. Summers said Yeates was very dedicated to serving the community.
"...Lynn commanded respect through his way of doing business, I would say," Summers said. "I grew up in Box Elder County my whole life and I've known Lynn my whole life also and I'm not sure I've ever met anyone who didn't like him as a person and the way he did his job. He was willing to go the extra mile to find people and do things."
Yeates is survived by four children, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Contributing: Dave Cawley
