Edward Ronald Callahan

NEVADA APPEAL

DOUGLAS DEPUTY DROWNS

Monday

May 25, 1998

“They did everything they could. You absolutely cannot swim in water that cold.” Ron Pierini, Douglas County Sheriff on the death of on-duty deputy

STATELINE – The cold waters of Lake Tahoe claimed the life of a Douglas County deputy sheriff Sunday afternoon.

Douglas Sheriff Ron Pierini said Deputy Edward Callahan, 54, died of drowning due to apparent hypothermia after the dinghy he was climbing into capsized about 200 feet away from the lake shore at Zephyr Cove.

He is the first Douglas County officer to die in the line in duty.

Officer Callahan and a reserve Deputy Wes Rice were finishing a day of patrolling the lake’s waters, using the department’s patrol boat. A Zephyr Cove Marina employee met the two around 5 p.m. at the department’s boat to ferry them back to shore.

They had taken off their gear to get into the boat and they didn’t have a chance to even put it on,” Pierini said.

Deputy Rice and the Zephyr Cove employee were able to reach the department’s boat, where they called over the radio for help, but Callahan could not, Pierini said.

Paramedics and firefighters from several Lake Tahoe-area agencies were able to pull Callahan from the water, estimated between 10 and 15 feet deep, approximately 15 minutes later. He did not have a pulse and efforts to revive him were unsuccessful.

May 27, 1998

California services for drowned officer Friday

Minden – Funeral services for Douglas County Sheriff’s Deputy Edward Callahan will be Friday afternoon in Hemet, California.

Callahan was a retired U.S. Customs agent. He worked as a boat patrolman on a seasonal basis for the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, spending the winter months at another home in Hemet. He is survived by a wife and three children.

Plaque Location: & Image

North Wall Column 15 Row A     View The Plaque