Before she got married to Richard Jewell, Dana Jewell was a social worker. When she was married to Olympic bombing hero Richard Jewell in 1998, she fell into the spotlight.

Dana, who with Richard and his mother, attended ‘CarmelFest’, recalls the parade and festival in much the same way.

“People were clapping and coming up to us and giving us hugs, thanking Richard, shaking his hand, wanting pictures with him,” she said. “It was amazing. It did so much for Richard at that time. And It was such a pick-me-up.”

When did Dana Jewell married Richard Jewell?

In 1998, Dana Jewell remained married until he died. The couple moved to a farm south of Atlanta that they purchased together. But the last pair had only been living together for 9 years. On August 29, 2007, his wife, Dana Jewell, found him dead on the floor of their bedroom when she came home from work.

“Being married to Richard was the greatest honor of my life,” she said.

Dana, who met and married Richard Jewell about 18 months after the bombing, said the ordeal – which he described as ’88 days of hell’ – left him permanently scarred. 

‘It did scar him, he was very paranoid. He was so paranoid he would be watching all the windows. And he would have nightmares, wake up in cold sweats… that happened until he died,’ she said. 

‘He was very upset, heartbroken.’

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Romantic life before Dana Married to Richard, the Dating memories

Dana did not speak with security guard Richard Jewell until two years later, on her birthday, she said on the “drug bust.” Dana, a social worker, demanded a police presence to accompany her to check on children suspected to be in a drug dealer-related household. Richard was one of three officers assigned to help with the call, which included waiting for several hours.

“He kept flirting with me,” Dana said. “Then at the end of the evening, he was like, ‘Would you go out with me sometime?’”

On their first date, Dana recalls chuckling when somebody approached Richard and asked for his autograph.

“(Richard) was like, ‘Why are you laughing?’ I said, ‘I’ve never been out with someone who was asked for their autograph. You’re no Brad Pitt or anything,’” Dana reminisced.

Still a social worker living near Atlanta, Dana said that she hopes that the recent interest in the story of Richard would help people understand how she knew her late husband.

Death of Dana Husband Richard Jewell

In February 2007, Jewell was diagnosed with diabetes and in the following months suffered kidney failure and other medical complications linked to his illness. His wife, Dana, found him dead on the floor of their bedroom when, on August 29, 2007, she came home from work; he was 44. With diabetes and associated complications as a contributing factor, an autopsy revealed the cause of death to be serious heart disease.

How Richard Jewell was hero of the nation? Who was Richard?

Richard Allensworth Jewell was born in Danville, Virginia, on December 17, 1962, as Richard White. He was an American security guard and police officer who at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, is considered to be the hero of the Centennial Olympic Park bombing. He had been erroneously accused of planting the bomb for a short period of time.

Jewell found a backpack carrying three pipe bombs on the park grounds while serving as a security guard at the Olympic Park. Before the bomb exploded, he alerted the police and helped evacuate the city, saving several people from injury or death.

false FBI accusation and media smears

 Initially praised as a hero by the media, Jewell was soon deemed by the FBI and local law enforcement to be a suspect.

While never charged, he was subjected to a “media trial” that took a toll on his personal and professional life. After 88 days of public attention, Jewell was cleared as a suspect.

“Eighty-eight days of hell is how he would describe it,” she said. “He wouldn’t talk a lot about it because it was just too emotional.  But when we did talk about it, he would say words that I can’t repeat.  He was very upset, he was very heartbroken… It was hard because he was in law enforcement and to think that fellow law enforcement officers could think that he could do this was really hurtful for him.” Dana said.

In a rarer phone interview Dana said,

“He never quit suffering,” said Dana, who met Jewell two years after the Olympics. “He always felt responsible for not being able to clear out everybody and not being able to save Mrs. Alice Hawthorne. He felt like he didn’t do enough.”