The Central Utah Correctional Facility, in Gunnison. Photo: Google Maps, Lynn Sessions.
DRAPER, Utah — The Utah Department of Corrections plans to investigate the death of an inmate at the Central Utah Correctional Facility, a state prison facility in Gunnison, as a possible homicide.
In a news release about the death, Kaitlin Felsted, a spokesperson for the department, said the “inmate was found unresponsive in his cell at the Henry Facility” at the Gunnison prison Monday.
The inmate who passed has been identified as Dale Lee Rush. The prison provided a medical evaluation of Rush and was pronounced dead shortly afterward. Gunnison officials have attempted to contact the family.
The Utah State Bureau of Investigation, a division of the Utah Department of Public Safety, will handle the investigation.
Rush had been incarcerated since 2011 for sodomy on a child, rape of a child and sexual abuse of a child.
According to the release, the “Henry Facility will remain on lockdown until further notice.”
The Gunnison prison contains three housing facilities including Henry, according to the UDC’s website. Opening in 1989, Henry represents the Gunnison prison’s oldest housing facility. In total, the Central Utah Corrections Facility can house up to 1,800 men.