On Tuesday, February 4, Arkansas State Police Public Information Officer Bill Sadler released the name of the woman who was found unresponsive in her cell at the Scott County Detention Center.
Sadler stated that ASP was contacted on Thursday, January 30 by authorities within the Scott County Sheriff’s Department. They requested that Special Agents of the Sate Police Criminal Investigation Division conduct an investigation into the death of Melissa Jean Heinrich, 40, of Waldron.
A detention center employee discovered Heinrich unresponsive in her jail cell at 5:15 p.m. on Thursday, January 30. According to Sadler’s release, the detention center staff began life saving measures while emergency medical personnel were summoned to the jail. Heinrich was transported to a Waldron hospital where she was later pronounced dead.
Heinrich’s body was later transferred to the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory where a forensic examination will determine a manner and cause of death.
The investigative case file prepared by the Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigation Division will be submitted to the sheriff’s department and the prosecuting attorney.
