Boone Police Department, North Carolina
End of Watch: Wednesday, July 17, 2002
Age: 46
Tour of Duty: 27 years
Badge Number: 230
Cause of Death: Aircraft accident
Date of Incident: July 17, 2002
Weapon Used: Not available
Suspect Info: Not available
Major Robert Kennedy, Sergeant Anthony Futrell of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, and Deputy Richard Ashley of the Chowan County Sheriff's Department, were killed in an airplane accident while searching for marijuana crops in Chowan County at 3:30 pm.
Approximately 90 minutes into the second flight of the day, the Cessna 172-S experienced problems and crashed. Witnesses on the ground heard the engine sputter and saw the plane nose dive into the ground. There were no radio messages from the pilots indicating any problems.
Sergeant Futrell and Major Kennedy, both members of the Civil Air Patrol, were piloting the aircraft and acting as spotters. Deputy Ashley was directing ground units to locations spotted during the flight for further investigation.
Major Kennedy had served with the Boone Police Department for 27 years.