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BRIGHAM CITY, Utah (AP) -- The family of man who died while incarcerated in the Box Elder County Jail is looking for information about his death -- and they're willing to pay for it.
Chad Peterson, 26, died Nov. 10 while being held in the jail. Jail officials said Peterson committed suicide.
Peterson's family disputes the story and is offering a reward up to $10,000 to anyone with information about the hours leading up to his death.
"The main reason for this is we're getting no cooperation from the Box Elder County officials the jail, the sheriff, the correctional officers," Peterson's father, Kirt Peterson, said.
Lawyers for the family have tried to reconstruct a timeline of events on the night of Peterson's death, but conflicting information has raised questions.
The sheriff's office initially said Peterson was alive and well during a 5 p.m. head count, but was found hanged at 5:15 p.m. Family members were told Peterson was found at 5:45 p.m.
Box Elder County Sheriff Lynn Yeates, who declined comment on the death, has refused to allow the Petersons' attorneys to interview jail inmates. He said an attorney must obtain a court order to contact an inmate he does not already represent.
An internal investigation of the death is ongoing and awaiting a report from the state medical examiner's office. The Cache County Sheriff's Office will review Box Elder's findings but is not conducting an active investigation.
The FBI's Salt Lake City office is also investigating whether any civil rights violations occurred.
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Information from: Standard-Examiner
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
