Roll of Honor
Incident
Officer Ellis drowned while attempting to rescue two young boys whose canoe became swamped in Lake Carnegie following a period of heavy flooding as a result of Hurricane Dianne. The high water caused both boats to become swamped. Officer Ellis and both boys drowned. Officer Ellis was off duty at the time but responded to the scene to rescue the boys.
Survivors
Officer Ellis was survived by his wife and three children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-NJ-41ED037D- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Patrol Officer Ellis served with the Princeton Township Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Princeton community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Patrol Officer Ellis.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Patrol Officer Billie D. Ellis is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In NJ, 258 of 646 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 39.9% of this state's fallen. That is 8.9 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Billie D. Ellis's cause is highlighted.
How Billie D. Ellis Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Billie D. Ellis is highlighted in Aug.