Suicide Victim Found At Fort Darling

During the afternoon hours of Saturday, August 11th, a ranger on patrol in the park came upon a vehicle parked at the Fort Darling unit. A visitor told him that the vehicle had been there earlier that day and possibly on Friday. The ranger checked the area, but could find no sign of the operator. He checked with the family and found that nobody was missing. On Sunday morning, though, a family member contacted the ranger and reported that a relative had not shown up at work for a couple of days. Chesterfield County officers were summoned. With the aid of a tracking dog, the officers and rangers found the body of a 38-year-old man with a single gunshot wound to his head. The body was found in an area closed to the public with a view of the James River. The death has been ruled a suicide.