Officials say inmate linked to disappearance hanged himself
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Prison officials in Maryland say an inmate hanged himself in his cell hours after he was publicly linked to a decades-old disappearance.
Fifty-one-year-old Fernando Asturizaga was declared a "person of interest" last week in the 2000 disappearance of Alison Thresher. She was a copy editor at The Washington Post, and Asturizaga babysat her daughter. The Post says her disappearance has been treated as a homicide case despite the lack of a body.
Asturizaga was serving time for sexually abusing Thresher's daughter, who appeared with Montgomery County Police in calling for justice.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}State prisons spokesman Gerry Shields says Asturizaga was found hours after their news conference on April 12.
The state medical examiner's office ruled Thursday that it was a "suicide by hanging."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Information from: The Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com