Roll of Honor
Incident
Major Robert Kennedy, Sergeant Anthony Futrell of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, and Deputy Richard Ashley of the Chowan County Sheriff's Department, were killed in an airplane accident while searching for marijuana crops in Chowan County at 3:30 pm.
Approximately 90 minutes into the second flight of the day, the Cessna 172-S experienced problems and crashed. Witnesses on the ground heard the engine sputter and saw the plane nose dive into the ground. There were no radio messages from the pilots indicating any problems.
Sergeant Futrell and Major Kennedy, both members of the Civil Air Patrol, were piloting the aircraft and acting as spotters. Deputy Ashley was directing ground units to locations spotted during the flight for further investigation.
Major Kennedy had served with the Boone Police Department for 27 years.
Rest in peace Major Kennedy.
Rabbi Lewis S. Davis January 15th, 2022
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-NC-076C1B74- 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
27 years. You could have gone home.
Major Kennedy gave the Boone Police Department 27 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Boone community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Major Kennedy.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Major Robert Steven Kennedy 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 NC, 205 of 664 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 30.9% of this state's fallen.
At Boone Police Dept., 1 of 3 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 33.3% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Robert Steven Kennedy's cause is highlighted.
How Robert Steven Kennedy Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Robert Steven Kennedy is highlighted in Jul.
Others Who Wore This Badge
2 officers from Boone Police Dept. are honored on badge.nw.
