Gary E. McCullah
Deputy Sheriff

Gary E. McCullah

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Dept. — Monterey Park, CA
Accident
End of Watch September 30, 1968
Age 29
Tour of Duty 6 yrs
Badge 3020
The Vigil Panel 104 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Deputy Sheriff Gary McCullah and Deputy Sheriff Robert Schnur were killed in a helicopter accident in Dark Canyon. The helicopter struck abandoned telephone wires in a canyon and crashed on land owned by Rose Hills Memorial Park. The helicopter and its crew were not reported missing until the next morning when Deputy Schnur’s wife called. A search was started and the helicopter's crash site was located at 7:30 am. Autopsies determined both deputies were killed on impact. Deputy McCullah had been with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for six years.

Survivors

He was survived by his fiancée.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-US-CA-40D15F15
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.
Deputy Sheriff McCullah gave the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department 6 years.
Thank you for your service to the Los Angeles community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Deputy Sheriff McCullah.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Location Monterey Park, CA
Platform Identity lacso.losangeles.ca.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch September 30, 1968
Tour of Duty 6 yrs
Age 29
Badge Number 3020
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Deputy Sheriff Gary E. McCullah 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 CA, 719 of 1,837 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 39.1% of this state's fallen. That is 8.1 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.

At Los Angeles County Sheriff's Dept., 50 of 120 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 41.7% of this agency's fallen.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Dept.
50
of 120 officers
41.7% Accident
CA — Statewide
719
of 1,837 officers
39.1% Accident
Nationwide
10,088
of 32,508 officers
31% Accident

National Cause Distribution

How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Gary E. McCullah's cause is highlighted.

Felonious
17,623 (54.2%)
Accident
10,088 (31%)
Illness
2,974 (9.1%)
Cardiac
1,306 (4%)
Undetermined
260 (0.8%)
Suicide
256 (0.8%)
vehicular
1 (0%)

How Gary E. McCullah Compares

Age at End of Watch
29
This officer
Avg for Accident: 38.1 years
Years of Service
6
This officer
Avg for Accident: 9.1 years

When Accident Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Gary E. McCullah is highlighted in Sep.

Jan
820
Feb
730
Mar
748
Apr
707
May
847
Jun
795
Jul
897
Aug
937
Sep
913
Oct
925
Nov
872
Dec
897

Incident Location