Daneille Harris, 39, was taken off life support on Feb. 19 at Mountain View Hospital in Payson, about 24 hours after she stopped breathing, according to Lt. Darin Durfey of the Utah County Sheriff’s Office.

She was the wife of Kevin Harris, who was involved in an 11-day standoff with federal agents in 1992 at Ruby Ridge, Idaho.

The couple were driving from Las Vegas to their home in Wyoming last Monday when Daneille Harris stopped breathing, Durfey said. Kevin Harris pulled over on the side of Interstate 15 near Santaquin and called 911. Durfey said preliminary tests indicate that Daneille Harris died of a drug overdose.

Durfey said the incident is being investigated under standard department protocol, which requires an investigation for any unattended death, though Kevin Harris is not suspected of any crimes. Kevin Harris returned to his home in Wyoming, Durfey said.

“It could be a couple months before we get the final autopsy results back. We won’t close anything out until we get that,” Durfey said.

Kevin Harris became a nationally known figure after the Ruby Ridge standoff at the home of Randy Weaver. On Aug. 21, 1992, Kevin Harris and Weaver’s 14-year-old son, Sammy, were outside the Weaver family’s Idaho home when Weaver’s dog began barking at what turned out to be agents from the U.S. Marshals Service who were on the property to arrest Weaver on a firearms charge.

Harris and Weaver’s son thought the dog was barking at a wild animal and grabbed their rifles. One of the marshals shot and killed the dog, sparking a firefight that left Sammy Weaver and Deputy Marshal William Degan dead.

A standoff ensued, and on the second day, an FBI sniper accidentally killed Weaver’s wife, Vicki, who was standing behind a door. Harris was also seriously injured in the shooting. The sniper later testified that he did not know that the unarmed Vicki Weaver was standing behind the door when he fired at her husband.

The siege ended after 11 days, and Weaver and Harris were charged with Degan’s murder and other crimes. Both were acquitted by trial in 1993. Later in the year, Weaver was convicted on charges of failing to appear for trial and committing an offense while on release, and served four months in prison.

The Weaver family later received a $3.1 million out-of-court settlement from the federal government for the wrongful deaths of Vicki and Sammy. Harris received a $380,000 settlement.

The Ruby Ridge incident gave the U.S. Department of Justice a long-standing black eye, and became a cause celbre for civil libertarians and others who felt that the federal government had overstepped its bounds. A DOJ task force concluded that the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team overreacted to the threat of violence during the siege, and the FBI disciplined 12 agents and employees because of the incident.

• Jeremy Duda can be reached at 344-2561 or jduda@heraldextra.com.