In the quiet community of Bayfield, Colorado, the life of 42-year-old Jeremiah Lee, a respected law enforcement officer, came to a tragic end. On the night of October 13, 2017, emergency responders were called to a fire at Lee's residence on County Road 516. Inside the burning home, firefighters discovered Lee unresponsive. He was pulled from the blaze, but efforts to revive him were unsuccessful.
It was soon determined that he had sustained a gunshot wound.
Jeremiah Lee was a long-serving member of the law enforcement community in La Plata County. He had been with the Durango Police Department for 18 years before joining the La Plata County Sheriff's Office, where he had been a deputy for about two years. His dedication to his work had been recognized earlier that year when he was named Law Enforcement Officer of the Year by the Colorado Cattlemen's Association. A lifelong resident of the area, he was known as a father to three children.
In the days leading up to his death, Lee had been facing personal challenges. He had informed the Sheriff's Office of a personal matter, which prompted an administrative investigation with assistance from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. Just three days before he was found deceased, on October 10, 2017, Lee submitted his resignation to the Sheriff's Office. In a welfare check conducted by a member of the Sheriff's Office Crisis Intervention Team the evening before his death, the conversation was reported to have gone well, with plans made for the two to meet for lunch in the near future.
The investigation into the fire and Lee's death was led by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. After a thorough investigation, the CBI concluded that there was no evidence of foul play in his death. The La Plata County Coroner's Office officially ruled his death a suicide, resulting from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The investigation was subsequently closed, leaving a community to mourn the loss of a man who had dedicated two decades to its protection.
