PLYMOUTH, WASHINGTON COUNTY – Washington County’s sheriff-elect passed away Monday morning, one week before he was scheduled to be sworn into office, his family said.
A family member initially reported that John Sawyer III was not feeling well, said Timothy Copeland, Sawyer’s second cousin. Sawyer’s wife –a county paramedic– later found him not breathing in his recliner at about 6:15 a.m. Monday.
Sawyer’s exact cause of death is unknown. He was 46 years old.
Current Washington County Sheriff James Ross said Sawyer was scheduled to be sworn into office on Monday, Dec. 1. Sawyer had been undergoing training at the Sheriff’s Leadership Institute in Durham in preparation for his new job, said Ross.
