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Man named person of interest in cold case found dead in his jail cell

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A man named a person of interest in a nearly 20 year old murder investigation was found dead in his jail cell. 

Fernando Asturizaga was considered a person of interest in the disappearance and murder of Alison Thresher, 45. She was last seen in May of 2000 in Bethesda.

Asturizaga was serving a more than 100 year sentence at the Western Correctional Institution in Cumberland for sexually abusing Thresher's daughter, Hannah. The abuse happened for three years starting when the girl was ten years old.

He was found unresponsive in his cell on Thursday at 8:45 p.m. and pronounced dead. A death investigation is being conducted by the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services Internal Investigative Division.

RELATED CONTENT: Person of interest named in nearly 20 year old murder investigation

He was found dead on the same day he was named a person of interest in the Bethesda woman's murder.

Thresher's body still hasn't been found.