Missing Baytown Texas police officer found dead of suicide
BAYTOWN, Texas Aug 8 2018 – A Baytown police officer who was reported missing last week was found dead near his Chambers County home Tuesday.
Officer John Stewart Beasley, 46, was found dead in a field about three-quarters of a mile from his home in the Cove area Tuesday morning, according to Chambers County Sheriff Brian Hawthorne. The sheriff said Beasley appeared to have suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound sometime Thursday.
Hawthorne has said Beasley is believed to have walked out of the back of his home in the 1800 block of Parker Place Drive in the Plantation Subdivision on Thursday.
“I lost a friend,” Hawthorne said.
The sheriff said Beasley had not shown signs of depression.
Baytown police Lt. Steve Dorris, who is also a friend of Beasley’s, said a majority of the officer’s 23-year career was spent on the streets of the city.
“It’s the unfortunate drip, drip, drip of stress and trauma and chaos that we as law enforcement officers deal with on a daily basis that sometimes just takes its toll,” Dorris said.
When asked whether Beasley left a note, Hawthorne said those details are part of the investigation. The sheriff said Beasley’s service weapon was recovered, but he could not say whether it was used in the suicide.
Hawthorne said an autopsy has been ordered.
